Torrance removed two warnings on its police complaint form – that threatened the complainant with legal action for making a false report – after a county grand jury investigation concluded they were intimidating.
It was one of several changes to the police complaint process municipal officials said were made after receiving recommendations from the grand jury.
The findings were outlined in a grand jury report titled “Policing the Police” that investigated how the public could make complaints against police officers in a dozen county cities, including Inglewood and Culver City in addition to Torrance.
“Transparency of (a) police department’s internal operations starts with an effective citizen complaint process,” the report found. “The 2017-2018 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury observed in the course of its investigation that effective community relations and public trust can be earned through an open and accessible complaint process.”
The grand jury found that Torrance was one of only two police departments among those it reviewed that warned complainants that filing a false claim against a police officer is a misdemeanor.
The panel also found Torrance was the only city it studied that indicated a police officer may bring a civil action against a complainant who falsely accuses a police officer of misconduct, criminal conduct or incompetence.
“The complaint form and process should not in any way intimidate or discourage potential complainants,” the report said. “Admonitions/warnings on complaint forms that may intimidate or discourage persons from completing complaints should not be used.
“Some individuals may be reluctant to file a complaint for fear of reprisal from the officer or officers they are complaining against or the police department itself,” the grand jury report added.
The grand jury also said that the Torrance warning regarding the civil suit that could be filed if a false report is submitted was found to be unconstitutional in 1999 because of its “chilling effect” and the court ruling has been upheld on several occasions since then. The ACLU observed the law was the only one of its kind in the nation to give police officers a special right to sue complainants, the jury said.
In a four-page letter written earlier this month to Superior Court Presiding Judge Daniel J. Buckley, City Manager LeRoy Jackson said the city had complied with the grand jury’s recommendation and “removed such warnings from its complaint forms and related materials.”
However, Jackson rejected the grand jury’s request to initiate an appeal process if the complainant is dissatisfied with the disposition of an investigation.
The grand jury also said that only three police departments in the county have any sort of civilian oversight.
Torrance did indicate it would comply with most recommendations made by the grand jury though, including:
- Improving the availability of complaint forms to the public by making them available in multiple locations with clear signage indicating where they specifically can be found. The city indicated the forms previously only available at the Police Department can now be found in the City Clerk’s Office and City Hall lobby as well.
- Providing the complainant a copy of their own statement at the time a complaint is filed. Torrance was one of four cities surveyed that were not in compliance with that policy, which the state penal code requires.
Five of the police departments surveyed – Torrance was not one of them – did not use complaints to identify potential problems, which the grand jury concluded was the entire point of an effective complaint system.
“A key purpose for receiving and investigating complaints is to identify law enforcement personnel that frequently or habitually engage in inappropriate behavior,” the report said. “Even if the results of investigations are inconclusive, tracking complaints can provide an ‘early warning’ system to identify and take corrective actions to improve employee conduct.”
August 24, 2018
Daily Breeze
By Nick Green
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