The Los Angeles Police Department has assigned 40 investigators to look into 56 allegations of misconduct, including use of excessive force, by officers during protests and civil unrest in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, officials said.
Twenty-eight of the 56 complaints related to use-of-force accusations, resulting in seven officers being removed from the streets and reassigned to non-field duties, the LAPD said Wednesday.
The investigators will “look into every complaint thoroughly” and hold officers accountable for their actions if found in violation of LAPD policies.
The department also provided an email address for complaints specifically related to the demonstrations in Los Angeles, which have been met by violence from cops in some instances, according to numerous videos reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Friday he was concerned by footage of officers using batons and firing foam projectiles at protesters.
“We’re investigating each of those instances,” Moore told a local radio station, the Times reported.
Advocates from Black Lives Matter-LA and the Los Angeles Community Action Network, meanwhile, called for an end to those tactics and other uses of less-lethal force outside of LAPD headquarters on Wednesday, the newspaper reports.
Pete White, LACAN’s executive director, dumped out a bag of spent rubber bullet shells and other items he claims were used against protesters.
“This case is about the irony of people in the streets protesting against police brutality, and they’re met with police brutality,” attorney Jorge Gonzalez told KABC.
Police Commission President Eileen Decker and two city council members have called for a departmental review into how LAPD cops conducted themselves during the protests, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Moore has said the LAPD will prepare an “extensive after-action” report to assess how cops responded during the protests, the Times reported last week.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also said last week he intends to slash the city’s police budget by as much as $150 million, but critics noted the figure only represents a fraction of the department’s $1.8 billion budget, according to the newspaper.