After paying out $38 million in internal harassment and discrimination suits over the last three years, the LAPD is coming under fire for a perceived lack of discipline of command staff targeted in the complaints.
Several supervisors have been promoted, although they were named as defendants in lawsuits that resulted in six- or seven-figure judgments or settlements, according to a review of city and court documents.
“I have a running joke,” said attorney Gregory Smith, who has filed about 50 lawsuits on behalf of officers against the Los Angeles Police Department.
“If I sue a supervisor, they’re going to get promoted within the next six months. Why that happens is anybody’s guess.”
That concern prompted Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine – himself a retired LAPD sergeant – to ask the city’s risk management task force to review the LAPD’s employment lawsuits and promotions.
In addition, the LAPD last week moved to hire a risk manager to head off more costly lawsuits by identifying internal problems and training supervisors in conflict management.
“What’s critical is that the department develops an overall strategy in risk management that focuses on prevention so that we don’t get into litigation,” said Richard Drooyan, president of the civilian Police Commission, which oversees the department.
In the last five years, cops have filed about 250 suits against the department for claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliation.
The costly point was driven home last Wednesday, when the council approved spending $3.2 million to settle a suit filed by an officer who claimed he was fired after testifying in court that officers were forced to put in unpaid overtime by working through their lunch break to respond to calls in South Los Angeles.
But some critics expressed doubts about just how effective a risk manager would be at changing the culture of the LAPD, where some rank-and- file officers complain that command staff rarely face discipline even if they are on the losing end of a lawsuit.
“They walk, and absolutely nothing happens to them,” said Officer Paul Waymire, a patrol cop of 23 years who sued the department for discrimination and retaliation in 2008 and won about $600,000. “They just kind of brush it under the carpet and continue to promote them.”
Similar concerns have prompted Zine to call for a review of the LAPD to ensure it is holding managers accountable for misconduct.
The investigation will look at the discipline meted out for supervisors who were the focus of lawsuits in which the city had to pay out judgments or settlements, and whether those managers were promoted, demoted, fired or temporarily suspended, Zine said.
“You cost the city millions of dollars, and you’re getting promoted? What the heck is that about?” asked Zine, head of the council’s Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee.
“We want to support strong supervision, but we also have to be sensitive to those who have cost us millions in mismanagement. You don’t want to reward misconduct.”
Promotions list
The cases of promotions after lawsuits that the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee will likely look at include:
Cmdr. Jorge Villegas. Waymire, a white officer, claimed he was passed over for promotions in favor of Latino or female officers at Mission Division in 2006. Villegas, who was captain of the division at that time and was named in the suit, was later promoted and was recently tapped to head LAPD Valley Bureau, which oversees all San Fernando Valley operations, and is expected to be promoted to deputy chief.
Capt. John Romero. A jury awarded a gay sergeant $1.1million in May for his lawsuit claiming Romero made derogatory remarks to him and transferred him to a Skid Row assignment in retaliation for complaining. Romero, then a lieutenant at LAPD’s Media Relations, was later promoted to captain of Mission Division.
Capt. Nancy Lauer. Two motorcycle officers from West Traffic Division filed a lawsuit claiming they received bad performance reviews from Lauer and were threatened with reassignment for refusing to meet an alleged quota for traffic tickets. A jury awarded the officers $2 million. Lauer was transferred to head the Criminal Gang and Homicide Division, considered a prestigious assignment. Ten more officers from West Traffic Division filed similar suits in August, with claims dating back to when Lauer was still in charge.
Paul Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said it’s disheartening to the rank-and-file to see managers being promoted or given coveted assignments, despite being found culpable by a jury.
“(The rank-and-file) definitely don’t receive that same treatment,” Weber said. “If you get into a high-profile incident and you end up costing the city, either you’re severely disciplined or they bury you in the bowels of the police department.”
The perception of a double standard could hurt morale and lead to more lawsuits down the line. That’s one reason officials hope the risk manager will be able to address concerns of unfair discipline.
“It’s a very sensitive culture,” Zine said. “If they can’t get it right, then you have the consequences and then it’s a huge lawsuit.”
But police officials defended the promotions, saying that although the city may have settled a case or a jury found a supervisor guilty, the defendant may not have committed misconduct or violated department policy.
“Just because a group of people in the community say somebody did something wrong, doesn’t mean they did,” said Cmdr. Andy Smith, an LAPD spokesman. “We always look at their history, we always look at what they’ve accomplished, we look at the best fit for the position out there.”
Alan Skobin, a member of the Police Commission, said he looked at two cases – he wouldn’t say which – and was satisfied with the promotions.
“We peeled back the onion … and I did not feel that the promotions were inappropriate,” Skobin said. “You can’t just look at a snippet … you have to look at the entire underlying situation.”
Perception questioned
Gerald Chaleff, special assistant to Police Chief Charlie Beck, acknowledged that the promotions coming on the heels of legal settlements or judgments contributes to a bad perception of the department, but called it a misguided one.
“Sometimes it’s apocryphal information,” Chaleff said, noting that not everything alleged in a lawsuit is true. “Even if we think we didn’t do anything wrong, we may settle the case.
“It’s part of what our new risk manager is going to do – make sure we don’t repeat our mistakes,” Chaleff said. “We’re really trying hard to minimize expense to the taxpayers. We want to have a workforce that feels comfortable where they are.”
The risk manager will be also identify and prevent behaviors that may lead to lawsuits and disgruntled employees, and work with the City Attorney’s Office to come up with lessons learned after a lawsuit and change questionable policy.
The manager will be a civilian who will have a rank on par with a police commander and will report directly to Beck.
The department hopes to have someone in place by the end of the year.
“This position is one that is meaningful with a lot of ability to effect change within the organization,” Skobin said. “But it’s critical that the person isn’t myopic and blame the bad lawyers and bad people training.”