May 23, 2012

Earlier this month, MPAC met with Inspector General Alexander Bustamante regarding the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) program. Independent of LAPD, the Inspector General audits the Police Department and has been known to give harsh criticisms when warranted.

Bustamante agreed to look into an audit of the LAPD SAR program and consider MPAC’s recommendations on what to look for during the investigation. He also welcomed the input of other community groups.

According to the Charter of the City of Los Angeles, the Inspector General reports to the Board of Police Commissioners and has the power to “audit, investigate and oversee the Police Department’s handling of complaints of misconduct by police officers and civilian employees.”

In addition to that meeting, MPAC along with other civic groups met with Deputy Chief Michael Downing of the Los Angeles Police Department and gained major reforms on the current SAR program.   

In particular, MPAC asked for and received agreement from LAPD on the following issues:

• Any reporting of incidents by law enforcement on individuals or groups must be connected to criminal activity.
• Any surveillance must have a nexus to terrorism.
• Any report that does not meet that standard will be purged from any intelligence gathering mechanism within LAPD.