Report: LAPD Doesn't Thoroughly Monitor Its Patrol-Car Video

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police officials do not do a thorough job of reviewing patrol-car video that can show whether officers are involved in misconduct, the department's civilian watchdog concluded in a new report.

Supervisors do check to make sure the in-car cameras have been turned on, according to the report by Inspector General Alex Bustamante. But they usually only monitor the videos after a critical incident like a shooting or when someone makes a complaint of police abuse.

Regularly reviewing all video to assess officer tactics and decision-making isn't done because it's considered too time-consuming, Bustamante said.

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told the Los Angeles Times that the department is reviewing the inspector general's findings. Smith declined to elaborate until the report is made public at Tuesday's meeting of the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission.

Bustamante said his office will begin conducting "regular and substantive reviews" of the video to help police evaluate them.

Despite the lack of regular reviews, Bustamante said the videos have provided valuable information about the way many police stops have been handled. During some pedestrian stops, however, officers turned the cameras off or exited the car and walked to an area where the camera couldn't record what they were doing.

His office is working with police officials to draft a directive that "explicitly requires" officers to have the cameras activated whenever a stop is made, Bustamante said.

Current policy requires that cameras be turned on at the beginning of all vehicle stops and pursuits, any time a patrol car's flashing lights and siren are activated and any time a criminal suspect is being taken somewhere. The cameras go on automatically when the lights and siren are activated.

For pedestrian stops, officers are allowed to turn them on only "when practicable."

The LAPD has been installing cameras in patrol cars for years, although some still don't have them. The department eventually plans to outfit each officer with body cameras as well.

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