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LA Police Commission outlines yearly goals
Wednesday April 09, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday outlined its yearly goals for the Police Department, asking officers not just to reduce crime but also fear and disorder, and to ensure ``responsive leadership.''
The civilian commission, which also heard comments and concerns from community members, said the department should have five goals: reducing crime, fear and disorder; enhancing community policing; improving recruitment and retention of officers; achieving timely compliance with a federal consent decree that seeks to end police abuses; and ensuring ``responsive leadership focused on the acquisition and appropriate use of resources.''
The consent decree was signed off on by the City Council in November 2000 after months of negotiations with U.S. Department of Justice officials. It is designed to correct what the DOJ called a pattern of civil rights violations, including the alleged beating, robbing and framing of innocent people by some renegade officers.
``Putting our vision in writing is a way of committing ourselves to the people of Los Angeles,'' Commission President Rick Caruso said in a statement. ``It is a way of saying, 'We hear you, we understand you, and this is what we promise to do for you.' As police commissioners, we have that responsibility to the community, and in turn, the LAPD has that responsibility to us.''
The commission also said it wants a solid record of improving the department's responsiveness in serving a city of nearly 4 million residents, including having officers who speak the native languages of residents and having an ethnic mix on the force that reflects the diversity of the communities it polices.
The commission also emphasized a continued effort to fight gang violence ``fearlessly and thoroughly'' is needed because street gangs are ``the root of many crimes.''
The commissioners pledged that by following the yearly goals, the Police Department would make Los Angeles ``the safest city in the nation, ensuring that personal safety is a reality for all.''
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