NCJ Number
80992
Date Published
1981
Length
138 pages
Annotation
The report evaluates the cost-effectiveness of Operation Rollout, a program in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's (LADA) Office for investigating incidents of police use of deadly force, specifically shooting incidents.
Abstract
The program, which involves 28 of the 52 police agencies in Los Angeles County, was begun in 1979. Under Operation Rollout, a deputy district attorney and a district attorney investigator 'roll out' at any time day or night to investigate shootings of citizens by police officers. The goals of the program are to insure that investigations of police shooting incidents are full, fair, objective, independent, and timely. The LEAA-sponsored evaluation analyzes all officer-involved shooting cases investigated by LADA for 2 years before and 2 years after Rollout began, reporting on observations of 20 from November 1980 to January 1981. Findings suggest that the rollout program has increased the fullness of investigations and the speed of prosecutorial decisions on police shootings, but has done little to increase the independence of the LADA investigations. Fairness and objectivity could not be measured accurately. Other benefits of the program have been possible deterrence of unjustifiable shootings, higher visibility of prosecutorial decisions, and possible influence on a long-term decline in police shootings and a decline in the occurrence of 'elective' police shootings. No changes were observed in the injuries to police officers during officer-involved shootings. Unfortunately, the largest police agencies in Los Angeles County refused to provide information on disciplinary action for police shootings and other data which would have made more thorough assessment possible. On the basis of available information, however, Operation Rollout's benefits appear to warrant the $2,830 costs per shooting incident. Furthermore, Rollout symbolizes the movement to create greater police accountability and should therefore be maintained as part of the check and balance system. Nevertheless, a number of changes are recommended. These include increased aggressiveness by LADA in demanding information from police agencies, freedom of movement for Rollout teams at shooting scenes, rotating teams for shooting investigations to LADA. Also needed are Rollout team observation of police interviews with witnesses, speedy questioning of police officer witnesses by a grand jury, and special training sessions on Rollout for police officers. Other cities should consider Rollout programs if there is an absence of public trust in police shooting investigations. Appendixes contain shooting investigation guidelines and coding sheets, as well as survey instruments.