LAPD delays – Los Angeles Police Commissioner Jeff Skobin says the Police Commission has been waiting for an LAPD report comparing officers’ use of deadly force across large agencies, with the department repeatedly saying data was still being compiled. The report is now sla
Jeff Skobin sounded done asking.
Last November, amid a sharp rise in LAPD shootings, the Los Angeles police commissioner requested a report from the department on how its officers’ use of deadly force compared with other large agencies. At the time, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell promised a careful review.
As weeks passed, Skobin kept coming back to the same point. In the following month. he reminded the department that he was waiting on data and was told it was still being compiled. He asked again in February and received the same answer. By April. with the LAPD still not releasing the shooting review. Skobin demanded to know what the holdup was—his exasperation clear in his voice. Now, the report is slated to be released Tuesday.
The delay is playing out while the Police Commission tries to hold onto its civilian oversight role—at a moment when elected leaders are seeking to grow their authority over the nation’s third-largest police department.
Under proposed changes to the city charter—essentially Los Angeles’ constitution—the City Council would be able to override certain decisions made by the Police Commission. the LAPD’s historical policy-making body. The proposals would also give the City Council the final say on officer disciplinary decisions. The measures are being reviewed by the City Council and other parts of city government. and could go before voters in the Nov. 3 general election.
Proponents say the shift would make the department more accountable to the public. Peter Bibring. a civil rights attorney who previously served as director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of California. said overlapping authority over policy could help ensure department rules match community expectations. He pointed to the City Council’s existing power to regulate through ordinances and changes to the municipal code. describing the charter plan as a simpler. more direct way to do that.
The Police Commission has already drawn criticism from council members for failing to address public concerns about so-called pretext stops. The practice is described as lawful but controversial—defined loosely as stops where police use a minor violation as justification to stop someone. then investigate whether a more serious crime has occurred. Critics argue that despite mounting research that pretext stops disproportionately target Black and Latino drivers. the commission has moved too slowly on the issue.
Some city leaders have also attacked the commission for not pushing back on McDonnell over the department’s response to pro-immigration protests and over skyrocketing payouts from LAPD-related lawsuits. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez said the commission has repeatedly failed in what he described as its mission to be a voice for Angelenos.
“This is a moment where the city residents and nation were asking us to act swiftly and boldly against the federal government. and we haven’t done it. ” Soto-Martínez said. “To ask an unelected. part-time. unpaid group of people to take a deep dive into our largest department in the city in a short period of time — it’s an illusion (to think) that that can be done.”.
Soto-Martínez also said turnover has worsened the problem. He argued that every few months, a new commissioner is thrown into charge of the massive, complicated and politicized LAPD, with some people easily overwhelmed.
Inside police headquarters, that frustration is visible every week. Angry critics pack the Police Commission’s regular meetings. arguing loudly that the body has functioned as a rubber stamp for the LAPD—sanitizing wrongdoing through endless reports and work groups. In their view. decisions affecting policing in neighborhoods are made far away by people with little knowledge of or connection to the area.
Longtime commission observers say Skobin is trying to change the perception that the LAPD is managing the commission rather than the other way around. Skobin. a San Fernando Valley car dealership executive and the son of a former commissioner. replaced Maria “Lou” Calanche. who resigned to run for a City Council seat on the Eastside.
In his months on the panel last fall. Skobin has shown what observers describe as an independent streak compared with some predecessors. He has grilled department officials on police protest tactics and on the LAPD’s relationship with the controversial surveillance company Flock Safety—sometimes in Council chambers and at other times during public comment at the commission’s weekly meetings.
The commission’s backers say the criticism is unfair. They point to staffing strain. saying attrition has spread staff thin and made it harder to keep up with other responsibilities. In addition to serving as a watchdog. they say the commission oversees the city’s nonprofits and enforces more than 60 types of permits issued by the LAPD. including permits for short-term rental properties. cafes with live entertainment. bowling alleys. consignment stores and towing companies.
Supporters also credit the commission for recent accomplishments. They cite the rollout of a new drone policy and say the commission has worked for months to modernize an outdated 911 system and fix the LAPD’s much-maligned disciplinary system.
Still. doubts remain about whether the City Council would be equipped to take on oversight of a department of roughly 8. 600 officers and 3. 600 civilians. Critics of the charter reforms argue that moving oversight to the council would add yet another layer to an already bureaucratic process and make the department answerable to 15 additional bosses whose attention is already divided across other city services.
In a letter to City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson. the commission’s executive director. Django Sibley. argued that after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. the commission embraced policies meant to put the LAPD “at the forefront of emerging standards” among law enforcement agencies nationally and helped bring changes to state police accountability law. Sibley warned that any changes that would “diminish” the commission’s independence should be approached with caution. saying they could weaken police oversight and erode public trust.
McDonnell also sent a letter opposing the proposed charter reforms. The powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into attack ads against progressive candidates. In a recent op-ed. the police union’s president wrote that progressive candidates were using charter reform as “their proxy to further erode our rights” by giving the City Council power to fire officers.
Who oversees the Police Department is a complicated question by design. The city charter emerged in the 1920s during the Progressive Era. when reformers sought to make government more accountable and protect residents from abuse of power amid rampant police and City Hall corruption. That era culminated in the ouster of Mayor Frank Shaw in 1938—the first recalled American mayor.
But the balance of power shifted toward headstrong police chiefs who sought to insulate the department from political interference. Under the city’s guiding document, the chief of police—and by extension the department—answers to the Police Commission.
Police commissioners are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. They act. in effect. like a corporate board for one of the nation’s largest police forces. setting LAPD policies. approving its multibillion-dollar annual budget and overseeing operations. Commissioners often spend time outside weekly meetings attending community events. An inspector general investigates and audits the department on their behalf.
One of the commission’s most important roles happens in private: each week. it retreats behind closed doors to decide whether police shootings and other serious uses of force were appropriate. That responsibility has faced new scrutiny as activists question increases in shootings. The number of police shootings jumped by roughly 70% over the prior year. reaching the highest annual shooting total in a decade. City officers opened fire 47 times last year, killing 15 people.
A mayor does not have the authority to fire a police chief; the power is reserved for the Police Commission and City Council. The mayor can craft the city budget. which must be approved by the City Council. and can replace commissioners with appointees of their choosing. Several of Bass’ challengers in the election said they would do so immediately.
The Police Commission can decide whether to reappoint a chief for a second term, but it has no say in disciplining the department’s sworn and civilian employees—a role that falls to the police chief.
The five-member panel is currently down two members. Fabian Garcia is on paternal leave, and Teresa Sánchez-Gordon recently resigned. Sánchez-Gordon said in an interview with news site L.A. Local that she was stepping away due to safety concerns. In a parting statement at her last commission meeting last month. the retired judge urged colleagues to listen to community concerns about biased policing practices. She said. in some ways. the LAPD had strayed from the reform course that followed the Rampart corruption scandal of the 1990s. and that the commission was now “being almost ordered by City Council to do something.”.
A previous commission candidate dropped out after a contentious renomination process. Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent turned USC administrator, abruptly stepped down from the board in October. The commission’s current president. white-collar attorney Rasha Gerges Shields. is the only remaining member who oversaw the months-long chief’s search that ended with McDonnell’s selection.
A lack of quorum in some weeks was a factor in the commission canceling roughly a third of its meetings last year.
As the Tuesday release of the long-delayed deadly-force comparison report nears. the fight over oversight isn’t happening in the abstract. It’s tied to the basic question of who gets answers first. who sets standards. and who ultimately has the power to change how the LAPD polices—especially as public anger keeps pressing the commission for action.
Los Angeles Police Commission LAPD Jim McDonnell Jeff Skobin civilian oversight city charter reform City Council officer discipline pretext stops George Floyd Flock Safety drone policy 911 system police shootings
So they “compile data” for months… okay.
They should already have that info, like what are they doing, sorting it by color? Seems like the delay is the point honestly.
Wait I thought the issue was LAPD shootings, but this is about comparing deadly force across agencies? Still sounds like LAPD trying to avoid oversight until it’s “ready.”
Jeff Skobin “sounded done asking” lmao I mean if they keep saying data is being compiled, maybe it’s because the numbers don’t look good compared to other departments? Also isn’t Jim McDonnell the guy always talking like everything’s fine, so this is kinda on-brand. I just wish the report would come out and then everyone stops acting surprised.