May 19--The Los Angeles Police Protective League filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Police Chief Charlie Beck alleging that he manipulated the LAPD's process of disciplining officers and seeking. major changes in the way the department conducts its Board of Rights hearings for serious misconduct cases.
The union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers asserted that Beck has "exerted improper influence" on police members of the department's Board of Rights, a three-person panel that decides disciplinary cases for officers, who usually face termination or lengthy suspensions.
Two command staff members and an independent civilian member are on the board, which the union says should be performing "its duties in a fair and impartial manner."
The city charter section that requires two command officers to be board members violates the 14th Amendment because those officers "owe their rank to the chief," the lawsuit alleges. According to the 57-page suit, filed in U.S. District Court, the structure of the board creates an "inherent pressure" for board members to return findings of guilty and "impose a specific punishment, which is almost always termination."
The lawsuit argues that only civilians should be on the panel.
LAPD officials said they had not yet seen the lawsuit, but disputed claims of bias.
In an interview with The Times, Beck said he has sent 184 officers to the board to face termination in the last five years. Officer have either been cleared or faced a lesser penalty in more than half of those situations.
"That's almost 100 times. So if I'm giving instructions not to do that and punishing people for it, then how does that work?" Beck asked.
The chief scoffed at the allegations that he unfairly influenced the board's decisions.
"I just don't do that. I'm too familiar with the system. I value the system and its checks and balances too much," he said. "I'm willing to work with the union on discipline issues -- that's their job, I get that. But to say that I would unfairly influence people that work for me in this process is just not right. I don't think they even believe that."
The union said the statistics raised by Beck were invalid because many officers reach settlements with the board, pleading guilty to lesser misconduct charges in fear that the command officers will fire them at Beck's behest.
Craig Lally, the union president, also scoffed at the figures. He argued that Beck often will urge Board of Rights members to terminate officers involved in high-profile shootings as a way of placating the community.
"It's not about numbers. Say 100 officers were found not guilty for termination, but three happened to be fired after high-profile shootings," Lally said. "Does that make it fair? We want it to be fair for everybody."
During a noon news conference, Lally said the union had nearly reached an agreement earlier this month with the mayor and city attorney's office to alter the disciplinary process and replace uniformed Board of Rights members with civilians. But at the last minute, city officials walked away from the negotiating table, Lally said.
Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer, said the union was never in negotiations with his office. The union spoke with Mayor Eric Garcetti's office, which may have requested advice from the city attorney, Wilcox said.
"While I cannot discuss advice we provided, L.A. voters adopted a clear and legally sound charter provision prescribing the composition of the LAPD Board of Rights," Wilcox said in an email. "Of course, policy leaders and voters could amend the charter to alter that provision as early as November."
In separate lawsuits filed earlier this year, several captains who were board members contended they were pressured to convict officers facing discipline and suffered retaliation after disagreeing with Beck during Board of Rights proceedings, according to the union's court filings.
One captain contended a superior officer told him that "when we send someone to a Board of Rights, we expect termination," according to the union's lawsuit.
Arif Alikhan, director of the LAPD's constitutional policing and policy, challenged that claim and pointed out that a jury rejected one captain's allegations in a recent civil trial.
"The department always wants to hold police officers accountable for misconduct and must do so within the system that is in place under the law," he said. "The ultimate responsibility for trying to ensure that is the chief of police. ... The final determination as to whether he can impose discipline is determined by the [Board.]"
The union, which represents 9,000 sworn LAPD officers up to the rank of lieutenant, alleges Beck's "corrupting influence" over the command members compels them to uphold his recommendations on discipline decisions.
Times staff writer Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.
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UPDATES:
4:49 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Chief Charlie Beck.
2:21 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from the union and the city attorney's office.
12:35 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the LAPD.
11:39 a.m.: This article was updated with more details from the lawsuit.
10:51 a.m.: This article was updated with allegations contained within the union's lawsuit.
10:31 a.m.: This article was updated with details that the lawsuit was filed Thursday morning in U.S. District Court.
This article was originally published at 6:52 a.m.
