Five years to the day after the Christopher Commission recommended sweeping police reforms, a coalition of a dozen civil rights groups charged that the LAPD has moved too slowly to implement the changes.
Leaders of Communities United for Police Reform called for Police Chief Willie L. Williams, the Police Commission and other city leaders to step up the reform effort proposed in 1991 by the Christopher Commission."All of us are very disappointed with the pace of reform. We thought there would be much more significant breakthroughs," said Anthony Thigpenn, chairman of the South Los Angeles community group AGENDA, which stands for Action for Grass Roots Empowerment and Neighborhood Development Alternatives.
"Five years is long enough, and we're out of patience," Thigpenn said during the news conference in front of Parker Center police headquarters.
Joe Hicks, the executive director of the Multicultural Collaborative, said he is concerned that the Los Angeles Police Department has not fully implemented a computer tracking system for problem officers and that the mayor's efforts to greatly expand the police force may result in less-than-adequate training to make sure officers perform properly.
"We think the pace has been all too slow," Hicks said. "The chief of police and the commission itself have to insist that the reforms be put in place right now."
Warren Christopher, now U.S. secretary of state, headed the commission formed five years ago after the March 3, 1991, videotaped police beating of Rodney King.
On July 9, 1991, the commission issued a report that found significant problems of racism, brutality and mismanagement in the LAPD and recommended more than 100 reforms.
Mayor Richard Riordan is pleased that progress has been made on improving LAPD procedures, including a move toward community-based policing and the hiring of Katherine Mader, inspector general, but he is not satisfied that enough has been done, said spokeswoman Noelia Rodriguez.
"With Katherine on board, we will expect to see much more improvement in the next six months," Rodriguez said.
While some reforms have been implemented, other changes have lagged, according to Constance Rice, director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Rice said the Christopher Commission found fault with the LAPD's failure to adequately recruit minorities and women.
Although department officials contend progress has been made, Rice said a study by her group found recruitment of African-Americans has declined by 40 percent in recent years and that 25 percent of African-American women who enter the Police Academy do not graduate.
The LAPD also has fallen short of implementing a Christopher Commission recommendation to improve citizen access to the process of filing complaints of police misconduct, said Allan Parachini of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
A survey released Tuesday by the ACLU found that "the LAPD continues to create obstacles in the process" and that the five divisions in the San Fernando Valley had the poorest performance in responding to citizen inquiries about how to file complaints.
Only four divisions had complaint forms in all four languages required by department policy.