“What am I doing?” Alexander Donta Mitchell asked. A Los Angeles police officer responded with a punch to Mitchell’s face.
Mitchell’s offense had to be parked twice, waiting for a friend. Instead of telling him to move, one of the officers opened the door, ordered Mitchell out, handcuffed him and beat him. This is an example of unnecessary police escalation.
Bystander video of the July 28 incident went viral and sparked outrage, but it wasn’t unusual. Los Angeles residents see this very often. He saw officers who appeared to be following rules unknown outside the world of policing, such as throwing “nuisance attacks,” meaning they punched people like Mitchell in the face to control a deteriorating situation. They increase the confrontation – of course in order to reduce it.
This leaves people arrested or detained by the police confused, angry and wondering, “What did I do?” Officers who believe they are following the rules may ask the same questions when they are booed by onlookers, ridiculed on the nightly news and investigated for disciplinary charges.
This tension is a problem in almost every big city police department, but it is especially prevalent in Los Angeles. The LAPD is said to be the best trained, most disciplined, and top law enforcement agency in the country. But now they are flying, the officers are angry with their leaders and the public is often angry with the officers. The LAPD has no sense of mission. It lacks leadership.
That’s what Mayor Karen Bass needs to remember as she prepares to select a new police chief from a list of three candidates reportedly submitted by the Board of Police Commissioners in late August.
Los Angeles needs a chief who is prepared to overhaul the department’s culture and practices, re-instill a strong sense of organizational identity and reorient officers to live up to the LAPD’s reputation as the nation’s most innovative and responsive department. And the new chief must do this in concert with the community, which is necessary and generally wants the department to be able to depend on the neighborhood to stay safe and criminals at bay. Angelenos want to know the rules of engagement, and expect officials to know the rules.
What does amorphous concepts such as leadership and identity mean? There is no agreed upon checklist. But the new chief will be on the right track if he can help officers better respect those who police, meet high standards of integrity and understand how their work fits with other responders such as mental health workers. Leaders also need to communicate to officers that their work is respected and that their psychological needs are met – because policing is a grueling job.
Right now, the LAPD doesn’t seem to be on track. The evidence goes beyond the frequent “nuisance attacks” as mere expressions of anger. It goes beyond unnecessary shootings or people who are mentally ill or worried, or destroying homes and betraying those who are supposed to be protected. Police in the Mission Division have been under investigation for more than a year for suspected armed robbery of an innocent motorist under color of law. Officers in other parts of the city have been accused of falsifying records. Racism and sexism are serious and persistent problems.
Discussions about the new LAPD chief have focused on whether the department will be ready for the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. It has focused on whether it is better for the chief to be an LAPD insider who understands the department’s culture or an outsider who will bring a new way of thinking. And has focused on the glass ceiling and identity, asking for example, whether it is time for Los Angeles, with more than half of the citizens and rank-and-file police being Latino, to have a Latino chief, such as the former LAPD. current chief of operations and chief of investigations district attorney Robert Arcos. Or former Houston and Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Or what in the city that just elected the first black female mayor, and at a time when the US is seriously considering whether to elect the first black female president, it is a high time for the LAPD to have the first black and the first female chief, for example. as Emada Tingirides, deputy chief of command of the South Bureau. All are rumored to be on the secret short list Bass has in mind, as are the others.
It’s not the wrong question, but it’s not the only question either. LA needs a chief who will raise the standards and performance of the department. And along with it, the enthusiasm of the officials and the trust of the people.
