NCJ Number
153735
Date Published
1992
Length
66 pages
Annotation
The responses of the Los Angeles Police Department to citizen complaints was evaluated by means of a review of 270 telephone inquiries about alleged police abuse received by the nonprofit Police Watch organization in the months since the Rodney King beating and random calls to the Department to test the accessibility and effectiveness of the agency's toll-free hotline program.
Abstract
Results revealed that little if any progress has occurred in the agency's responsiveness to citizen complaints and that agency personnel and command centers are largely unaware of the existence of the toll-free hotline. They often provide callers with incomplete or incorrect information about the agency's citizen complaint program. In more than one-fourth of all cases, agency personnel told callers that they must appear at the stationhouse with jurisdiction over the area where the incident occurred to file grievances. This advice appears to violate published Los Angeles Police Department policy. Results indicated that the agency has avoided meaningful reforms even though top agency officials insist otherwise. Many specific changes are needed for effective reform of the citizen complaint process. Recommendations, table, case examples, and appended individual statements