LAPD rejecting most complaints against officers from summer protests; others still under review

Internal affairs investigators reviewing hundreds of allegations of misconduct and excessive force by other Los Angeles police officers during last summer’s mass protests against police brutality are ruling on the side of the officers in most cases.

An internal report, submitted by LAPD Chief Michel Moore to the civilian Police Commission on Friday, noted the department had received more than 600 allegations against officers. Some of those were duplicate complaints about the same incident, and from those launched 210 investigations into 223 officers — 73 of which were related to the alleged use of non-deadly force, and five of which involved the alleged use of deadly force.

Other allegations included inhumane treatment during arrests and unbecoming behavior and biased policing.

Of the 73 allegations of less serious force, 33 have been resolved by the department — with zero resulting in a finding that the officers were in the wrong, Moore’s report said. The remaining 40 cases are still under investigation.

“Based on the investigations to this point, no allegations for unauthorized force have been sustained,” Moore wrote. He wrote that many of the cases did not have enough “supporting information” to determine the officer involved or where the incident allegedly occurred.

The five alleged uses of deadly force still must go before the Police Commission, though the department’s own use of force panel has already reached findings in some of the cases.

In one incident where an officer shot a projectile through a car window at a driver who had allegedly driven toward officers, and another officer fired a real bullet into the car, the review panel disapproved of the tactics and the lethal shot. The commission will review their findings.

The panel also ruled that an incident highlighted by The Times in which an officer shot a protester in the testicles with a projectile was within policy. That assessment will also go before the commission.

Several other cases involving officers shooting protesters with projectiles remain under investigation or review.

Moore wrote that, as of March 23, 37 of the 210 overall cases, involving a total of 155 allegations against officers, had been fully adjudicated. Out of those 155 allegations, just seven have been sustained.

Five of those had to do with the misuse of body cameras, one with neglect of duty and one for unbecoming conduct, Moore said.

An additional 67 allegations were determined to be unfounded, 41 ruled to have insufficient evidence to support them, 17 found to involve behavior by officers that did not merit discipline, and 10 closed after the officers were exonerated. Other cases remain under review.