KMAX: News of the West

Internal LAPD board clears cop who shot, killed homeless woman

LOS ANGELES (AP) Four years after a homeless woman wielding a screwdriver was shot and killed by a police officer on bicycle patrol, an internal Police Department board has determined the officer acted properly and will not face any disciplinary action, it was reported Tuesday.

The department's Professional Standards Bureau, formerly Internal Affairs, delivered its ruling on May 12, overturning a ruling by the civilian Police Commission, which ruled 3-2 months after the , shooting that Officer Edward Larrigan had violated LAPD policy and should be disciplined.

The five-member commission, under the City Charter, determines whether police shootings are justified according to department policy, but does not have the power to discipline officers.

Some argue the charter should be amended to give the commission such power.

``We, as commissioners, should have the last word on this,'' commission president Rick Caruso told the Los Angeles Times. ``You basically get your legs cut out from under you. I don't agree with this process. I never have.'' Caruso was appointed to the commission after the Mitchell case was reviewed.

The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and the county district attorney both investigated the deadly shooting but did not file charges. A civil lawsuit filed by Mitchell's family against the city was settled for $975,000.

Deputy Police Chief Michael Berkow, who heads the police standards bureau, was traveling with Chief William J. Bratton in Washington, D.C. Berkow said the chief has been frustrated by the disciplinary process.

``He has less power here than in any other police department he's been at,'' Berkow told the Times. ``Discipline is not in the hands of the police chief, who is responsible for managing the department.''

Bratton would not comment on the Mitchell shooting, saying he was not familiar with the facts, Berkow said.

Mitchell was stopped by Officer Larrigan and partner Officer Kathy Clark to determine whether the shopping cart the petite woman was pushing had been stolen. Mitchell ignored them and began walking away, later pulling a foot-long screwdriver from the shopping cart and waving it at the officers.

When Mitchell allegedly lunged at Larrigan, the officer fired once, hitting her in the chest.

``Officer Larrigan's response was defensive. It was reactive,'' said Capt. Richard Wemmer, who headed the three-member internal review board, which consisted of him, another police captain and a civilian.

``It was his last, indeed his only, resort to prevent serious bodily injury or death to himself. And it was compelled in the end by the actions of the victim,'' Wemmer added.

Larrigan's lawyer, Michael P. Stone, said the standards bureau had ``a much better understanding of how the shooting unfolded than the members of the Police Commission.''

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