LAPD Response To George Floyd Protests To Be Reviewed
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - The National Police Foundation is looking for public input assessing the Los Angeles Police Department's response to the large demonstrations that followed last year's death of George Floyd.
The listening sessions will be held at noon and 5 p.m. Thursday to independently assess the response by L.A. officers. Members of the public and business owners are encouraged to give feedback on interactions they had with officers during demonstrations between May 27 to June 7, 2020.
The first N.P.F. session can be joined by calling 312-626-6779, meeting ID 923-6097-7810; and the second by calling 312-626-6779, with meeting ID 990- 8337-3720.
According to the foundation, the input will be used to "identify successes and challenges," assist it in developing strategies for the L.A.P.D. to consider adopting for demonstrations in the future and enhance police-community relations.
The N.P.F. bills itself as an independent, nonpartisan research foundation that conducts research into police behavior, policy, and procedure. According to its website, its mission is "to advance policing through innovation and science."
In the wake of the protests, Black Lives Matter, Los Angeles lost a bid to get a federal judge to order an immediate halt to the L.A.P.D.'s use of projectiles, including rubber bullets, to disperse or otherwise control crowds, baton strikes, and the tactic of "kettling," in which protesters either leave through an exit controlled by the police or are contained, prevented from leaving, and arrested.
In a federal lawsuit filed in June by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, B.L.M.L.A. and Los Angeles Community Action Network, the plaintiffs maintain there were more than 3,000 people arrested over the course of several days of demonstrations, and many were seriously injured by police.
The complaint included graphic photos of alleged protester injuries from rubber bullets and police batons, as well as descriptions of protesters who were held in buses in cramped conditions without access to restrooms, and injuries from too-tight handcuffs.
In its response to the B.L.M.L.A. filing, plaintiffs' attorneys wrote that the city and L.A.P.D. support the constitutional right to engage in peaceful political protests and were assessing the actions police took "on six historical, wrenching nights from May 29 to June 3."
The city's attorneys maintained that the "immediate wholesale elimination of several L.A.P.D. policies, without a more searching examination, is simply not warranted at this time." They also noted that although the mass demonstrations were largely peaceful, there were also criminal acts of arson and looting that threatened public safety, and the L.A.P.D. "must be able to respond to such situations."
Dozens of other lawsuits have been filed by individuals who said they were injured by police at the demonstrations, the largest of which were held in downtown Los Angeles, the Fairfax District, and Hollywood.
More information is available here, or by emailing PFinfo@policefoundation.org, or by calling 202-721-9779.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
