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Two big news conferences are scheduled for Monday to present reports on the LAPD and not necessarily in a good light. First, at 11:00 a.m. on the steps of City Hall, City Controller Laura Chick will present her audit on the backlog of Forensic DNA rape-kits. It has been reported that their backlog is around 7,000 kits. That's thousands of chances to gather physical evidence and DNA that could help put criminals in jail. Chick's audit is expected to officially reaffirm those problems.
Then, a half hour later, the ACLU will release an in-depth new report on racial profiling at the LAPD. It is unknown if the findings will show improvements within the department or more negative results, but racial profiling is never a fun topic. In 2005, the ACLU said the city's commissioned report on the issue would not be suffice since the study only focused on pedestrian stops and not motorists.
Today, the LA Times published findings of a confidential report that LAPD's fingerprint lab has a smudge-like atmosphere, having pressed charges against people erroneously based on bad fingerprint analysis.
An Aside: Although it seems like the LAPD is hated on a lot, we feel it should be stated that there are many hard working and good officers out on the streets. To that end, if you have a Senior Lead Officer for your neighborhood who you think is a rockstar, drop us a note at tips [at] laist [dot] com.