The Los Angeles Police Commission Asked The National Police Foundation To Write An “After Action Report” On Police Responses To George Floyd Protests Between May 27 and June 10 — The NPF Asked LAPD For A Huge Amount Of Evidence — Including Surveillance And Bodycam Video — Training Records For Every Cop Involved — Training Curriculums For Relevant Courses — Mental Health Referrals (Of Police) And So On — In Fact I Have A Copy Of NPF’s Initial Requests — Four Pages Of Requests — And Inspector General Mark Smith Sent NPF A Long List Of Activist Social Posts About LAPD — And I Have Live Links To All Of Them As Well! — Including For Some Reason A Link To This Blog!

On May 25, 2020 Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd and the United States, including the City of Los Angeles, erupted in massive protests. And police around the country, including right here in the City of Los Angeles, responded with disproportionate aggression and overwhelming violence against the protesters. In the wake of that first wave of protests and nearly universal criticism of their response, the LAPD opened over 50 internal investigations against officers for brutality.¹

And the Los Angeles Police Commission, nominally an independent oversight body,² arranged for the National Police Foundation to conduct a putatively independent report on the matter. It’s doubtful that this report will do anything more than evoke the famous “Few Bad Apples” theory to justify maybe tossing a few cops under the bus while vigorously reaffirming the structural and institutional soundness of the LAPD. The NPF is far too compromised to expect much else.

So I’m predicting that the report, when it finally comes out, will be tedious and fundamentally dishonest. But none of that means that the report creation process isn’t interesting. In fact it’s very interesting, as I learned recently when I obtained a few records relating to the process. These documents have to do with evidence requested by the NPF from both LAPD and the Police Commission, and they’re interesting to me for at least two reasons.

First, the fact that Mark Smith, the Inspector General, gave the NPF a huge list of social media posts about the protests³ and told Richard Tefank, the Executive Director of the Police Commission, in an email that the OIG staff had collected them.⁴ Wondering if the cops are reading your tweets? Not only are they, but they’re quite likely handing them over as evidence! Smith even sent the NPF a 2016 blog post of mine about Cory Palka.⁵ Also I made an html version of Smith’s links for maximum clickability and it’s at the end of this post.

And second, there’s the sheer bulk of the material the NPF requested and the sheer promptness with which LAPD handed it over. See this August 27, 2020 memo from the NPF to LAPD and Tefank consisting of four pages of detailed requests for evidence. The version I obtained was marked up in red and blue by Lizabeth Rhodes, director of LAPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing, with the Bates Stamp numbers of all the material they’d already produced as of September 17, just three weeks after the request.

The numbers go over 6,000 even though the bulk of the requested material had not yet been collected and produced. Produced by the same LAPD, of course, that’s famous for stalling public records requests indefinitely if they don’t like the requester or what the records say about them. Famous for taking three years rather than three weeks to produce even the most minimal sets of records.

And also famous for only releasing records publicly and promptly if they support the preferred police narrative, like bodycam videos. LAPD’s eagerness to produce evidence to NPF pretty much proves that they’re expecting the report to be very friendly to their cause. Their promptitude really speaks against the independence of the forthcoming report.

There’s an html version of this letter at the bottom of the post,⁶ but the NPF’s asks include training records for all involved personnel, training curriculums for dozens of topics including crowd control, de-escalation techniques, and so on. Also all the LAPD’s plans and policies for handling protests, all orders issued regarding protests, including orders on use of crowd control weapons and gas.

Lists of all specialized units involved in the protests and descriptions of the roles that each played. All radio communications related to protests from May 27 through June 10. As an aside, can you freaking imagine being able to listen to all that?! Can you imagine making a CPRA request for it?! All bodycam, dashcam, and surveillance footage from the same timespan, all LAPD social media posts on the protests, all use of force reports and investigations arising from the protests, and more, more, more!

Now, it’s pretty clear that the fact that LAPD handed over all this stuff to the NPF doesn’t make it any easier to get via the California Public Records Act. Surely there’s a contract requiring NPF to keep quiet about the contents of the records, so the production doesn’t waive exemptions.

But even if all this material is exempt, and some of it might legitimately be exempt, nevertheless, as we know, the exemptions are discretionary and the LAPD ignores them and releases records to the public when doing so serves an institutional purpose. So they could release all this stuff to us. And I encourage them to do so.

If they really want the public to believe that they’re exonerated when the report comes out it won’t be enough to read the NPF’s propaganda. We will need to see the evidence as well in order to be sure that NPF did a solid job. In the long run, then, releasing it all might serve LAPD’s institutional purpose of not getting completely defunded when enough people finally get good and sick of their nonsense.

Maybe if they show us the evidence along with the conclusions we’ll be able to believe them for once. Or maybe not, probably not, but in any case, they should release it! And read on for a transcription of the NPF letter and an HTML version of Mark Smith’s link collection!

HTML version of NPF requests:

TO:	Ms. Lizabeth Rhodes, Director, Office of Constitutional Policing, Los Angeles Police Department Richard M. Tefank, Executive Director, Los Angeles Police Commission
FROM:	Jim Burch, President, National Police Foundation
	Jennifer Zeunik, Local Programs Director, National Police Foundation

DATE:	August 27, 2020
SUBJECT:	INITIAL FORMAL REQUEST FOR MATERIALS FOR THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE TO MAY 27, 2020 THROUGH JUNE 7, 2020 PROTESTS

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The National Police Foundation (NPF) is conducting an independent review of the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) response to protests in all four bureaus, particularly in the Central and West Bureaus, that occurred between the dates of May 27, 2020 through June 7, 2020. The purpose of the review is to provide an evidence-based and data-centered independent assessment of the LAPD response from a variety of perspectives. The NPF Team will identify lessons learned, promising practices, and provide evidence-based and actionable recommendations to improve policies, procedures, tactics, systems, relationships, and responses to future incidents.

Below, we are requesting a variety of preliminary materials, data and information be provided to facilitate our review, in addition to our own, ongoing open source collection processes. Given that much of the information requested may be of a confidential or sensitive nature, we are requesting that the materials be uploaded to our secure, Criminal Justice Information Services-compliant, cloud-based storage system (Box.com) for you to upload the materials into. Please advise if this process is workable or if an alternative is needed. If there are reasons that you are not able to provide this information, please let us know in writing as soon as possible.

Please note that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. If there are policies, procedures, systems, or other resources that you believe would be helpful for the NPF Team to review as we move through the process, please do not hesitate to include that information as well. We anticipate that as the review evolves, we will submit additional requests for information.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. We are happy to discuss or clarify any of the requested materials with you at your convenience.

Requested Materials:

Training Curricula and Records: (All assigned to PTB – Sgt. Cullen 6-7079)

Recruit and in-service training records and curricula pertaining to community policing and/or community engagement and civil disturbance events including incident command training, and number of personnel trained in these areas from January 2018 to present. (Bates Stamp No. NPF002216-002247, NPF002254-002274, NPF002322-002342, NPF002374, NPF003533-003534, NPF003731-003734)
All recruit training broken down by blocks of training, to include type of training and number of hours. Please include training hours and recruit curriculum regarding de-escalation, conflict resolution, crowd management, Mobile Field Force, use of force, use of chemical agents, and First and Fourth Amendments. (Bates Stamp No. NPF000121-000178, NPF000246-000256, NPF002210-002211, NPF002248-002253, NPF002275-002321, NPF002343-002373, NPF002375-002435)
In-service training blocks that specifically address de-escalation, conflict resolution, crowd management, Mobile Field Force, use of force and chemical agents (both generally and within the context of crowd management), and First and Fourth Amendments. (Bates Stamp No. NPF000001-000120, NPF000179-0000187, NPF0000198-000200, NPF000236-000245, NPF000257-000312, NPF002436-002465, NPF002468-003532, NPF003572-003730)
Any specific/specialized training for Mobile Field Force/specialized units regarding de-escalation, use of force, deployment of chemical or other munitions. (Bates Stamp No. NPF000376-000398, NPF002063-002067, NPF002127-002159)
Participant rosters, demographics, surveys or other participant data/information from any training regarding responding to mass demonstrations/assemblies. (Bates Stamp No. NPF002068-002126)

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Policies/Strategies:

Any Incident Action Plans (IAPs), Incident Command System (ICS) 214 activity logs, and after-action reviews related to mass demonstrations and First Amendment assemblies from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (ESD provided some doc’s, waiting for any additional doc’s) (Bates Stamp No. NPF000419-0001463, NPF001464-001765, NPF002160-002185)
Any Emergency Mobilization Plan and any citywide Emergency Plan(s) related to mass demonstrations. (Rec’vd some doc’s from ESD) (Bates Stamp No. NPF000313-000357, NPF000404-000418)
Documentation of the mental health plan that was implemented to include whether critical incident stress defusing and/or debriefings were conducted with officers assigned to the assemblies and protests. (BSS – received; possibly also COS?)
Any policies, strategies, and/or plans, not publicly available, related to community policing and/or community engagement. (OO – CEG) (Bates Stamp No. NPF000399-000403, NPF001766-001775, NPF003744-003749, NPF003756-003764)
Specific policies, department orders specific to the authorization and deployment of chemical and other munitions. (Rec’vd some info from ESD) (Bates Stamp No. NPF000188-000197, NPF000201-000216, NPF000364-000375, NPF003750-003755)
Breakdown of any specialized units that were deployed by LAPD in response to the demonstrations/assemblies – Mobile Field Force, SWAT, K-9, Air Support, Community Engagement, Mounted, etc. as well as a description of the role the units played to include any after action reports/assessments. (Check with ESD)

Multimedia:

Any, and all, radio communication related to the assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (Communications – received) (Bates Stamp No. NPF003739-003742)

Any, and all, recordings of LAPD channels active during the response to assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (Communications – received)
Alarm record (times) for all LAPD units dispatched to assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (Communications – received)
Any, and all, LAPD body worn camera, surveillance camera, and/or patrol car camera footage (including video evidence secured by investigators) related to assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (IMD – in process)
- Any, and all, transcripts/recordings of incoming and outgoing 911 calls (and any other emergency calls) including direct lines to other dispatch centers related to assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (Communications – received)
- Statements of officers involved in the arrests of persons detained during assemblies and protests from May 27, 2020 – June 7, 2020. (check with ESD?)
- Any LAPD social media posts regarding the status of the demonstrations/assemblies either proactive (information providing) or reactive (information clarifying). (MCD – Captain Spell – pending)
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Officer Wellness/Injuries:
- Redacted reports of officer injuries within the relevant locations and timeframes. (OO – /Wilshire – pending)
- Costs of officer injuries within the relevant locations and timeframes. (FG – pending)
- Aggregate number of hours/days of leave (vacation, sick, etc.) for May 27, 2020 – June 30, 2020 and May 27, 2019 – June 30, 2019. (FG – pending)
- Aggregate number of referrals/self-referrals to EAP or other department sponsored/supported mental health provider (internal or external) for May 27, 2020 – June 30, 2020 and May 27, 2019 – June 30, 2019. (BSS – received; possibly also COS) (Bates Stamp No. NPF002208)
- Any, and all, mental health resources provided to LAPD staff since May 27, 2020, including EAP or similar contacts/requests/usage data for the period May 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020. (BSS – received)
Police Conduct/Use of Force Complaints & Related Investigations:
- All reports documenting officer use of force related to the assemblies and protests. (OO – not yet requested)
- Any written materials documenting incidents referred for administrative or criminal investigation. (PSB – not yet received) (Bates Stamp No. NPF003765-004069)
Data:
- Data on the number and type of arrests and prosecutions for civil unrest-related incidents from May 27, 2020 to present. (check with ESD); (Bates Stamp No. NPF003738-003738, NPF004070-004326, NPF004858-006064)
- Data on local jail capacity at the time that individuals arrested for civil unrest-related incidents from May 27, 2020 – June 30, 2020 were detained. (Bates Stamp No. NPF001776-001803, NPF004327)
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Response:
- Any chronology or timelines of the events leading up to the event, during the event, and post-event. (Bates Stamp No. NPF001804-002000)
- Any existing internal or other action reports/assessments on the response to the May 27, 2020 – June 30, 2020 protests. (check with ESD)

Live links from Mark Smith:⁷

✸ https://abc7.com/6231194/

✸ https://abc7.com/amp/video-lapd-officers-seen-striking-protesters-with-batons/6231194/?__twitter_impression=true

✸ https://abc7.com/police-car-hits-protester-vehicle-strikes-person-lapd-black-lives-matter-protest/6223842/

✸ https://abc7.com/video-lapd-officers-seen-striking-protesters-with-batons/6231194/

✸ https://abc7.com/video-lapd-officers-seen-striking-protesters-with-batons/6231194/?fbclid=IwAR19SEe1-ouJ7PJjnv7zf8wpojIZIAoCTXi03nPrZWQCDi53oOZ0Wi_OshQ

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Or “misconduct”, if you prefer official LAPDese.
But factually completely under the thumb of LAPD.
The linked-to file is a PDF that I made for ease of use. The original is a CSV file, very easy to import into Excel.
Although he doesn’t make it clear if they collected them through intentional monitoring or if they just kept ones that they came across.
I’m honored, of course. It’s hard to imagine what this has to do with LAPD brutality in 2020 but I’m sure they have a theory about it.
Which doesn’t include the colored text because I didn’t have time to figure out how to modify the script-generated HTML with color via script.
I generated the html for this with a script and didn’t check every one so it’s possible that something’s messed up. Let me know if it’s essential to you!

Michael Kohlhaas dot org

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