LA commission recommends expanding City Council power over LAPD

A city of Los Angeles commission on Thursday recommended increasing the power of the City Council over the police department, a shift supporters said would make the agency more accountable to the people.

Right now, the council has no direct authority over the LAPD. Instead, a five-member Police Commission appointed by the mayor oversees the department.

The structure has sometimes frustrated members of the City Council who want to weigh in on police policy — especially amid what some see as the department’s heavy-handed approach to protestors.

Under the proposal, any police-related ordinance enacted by the council would be reviewed by the Police Commission. The panel would have the option of vetoing it within 60 days. After that, if the commission takes no action, the ordinance would become law.

The Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission voted down stronger language that would have given the council more direct control over police policy.

Community activists hailed the recommendations.

“Months ago, police reform wasn’t even on the Charter Commission’s to-do list,” Godfrey Plata of LA Forward said in a statement. “Today, because community members came together to force conversations that likely never would have happened on their own, we have multiple reforms headed to City Council. That’s a huge victory.”

The recommendation goes to the City Council, which will decide whether to place it on the November ballot, along with a series of other recommended charter changes.

Criticism of police commission

The recommendation comes amid growing frustration over the rising liability costs caused by police misconduct and a sense the Police Commission has done too little to reform the department.

“The police commission is borderline useless,” Baba Akili of Black Lives Matter told the Charter Commission during public testimony.

In addition, the charter reform panel recommended strengthening the role of the council to terminate officers involved in misconduct. Right now, the City Council has no such role. Under the recommendation, the council would be able to override a decision by the police chief and civilian Board of Rights panel if they decide to retain an officer accused of wrongdoing.

The commission also voted to recommend the police department be required to buy $1 million worth of liability insurance for each officer to be paid out if there is a legal settlement or judgment when an officer engages in misconduct. The cost would not be able to exceed $20 per officer.

Commissioners said skyrocketing judgments and settlements connected to police misconduct necessitated the creation of an insurance program.

Other recommendations

Previously, the Charter Reform Commission recommended increasing the size of the City Council from 15 to 25 members, shifting to a ranked-choice voting system and lowering the voting age to 16 in city and school board elections.

Each of those recommendations would need to be approved by the City Council before it can appear on the ballot.

The commission was born out of calls for reform in the wake of the 2022 City Hall tapes scandal. Three members of the City Council and a labor leader were caught on audio tape making racist and disparaging remarks during a discussion of how to retain power through political redistricting.

City Council President Nury Martinez and the labor leader, L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, resigned their positions.