LAPD Chief states his officers made mistakes during May Day Riots

**Terminator** · 05-30-07, 03:13 PM

The head of the Los Angeles Police Department, William Bratton, has admitted that his officers made serious mistakes at the end of a May Day rally.

The admission came as Mr Bratton delivered a report on the immigration rally to the city's police commission.

Video footage of the clashes showed police beating unarmed demonstrators with batons and firing rubber bullets.

More than 40 demonstrators and journalists were injured as police dispersed crowds at the rally.

'Communication breakdown'

The immigration rally in the centre of Los Angeles had been peaceful until the clashes, which the police say were prompted by agitators throwing rocks and bottles at the police.

News footage showed officers pushing a television camerawoman to the ground and shoving people who were walking away from officers.

Mr Bratton acknowledged early on that a breakdown in communication and command had led to the clashes and said that they had embarrassed the force.

"It was quite apparent ... it all broke down," he said.

The two highest ranking officers at the scene have since been reassigned and in his report to the police commission, which sets policy for the department, Mr Bratton blamed the clashes on failed planning and communication.

Mr Bratton said the clashes embarrassed the police force

The report called the incident an aberration.

"We can do better than that. We have done better than that," Mr Bratton said.

Meanwhile, the union which represents the LAPD's more than 9,000 officers has called for members of the unit involved in the melee and their commanding officers to attend training in crowd control.

Such training had been abandoned in an attempt to save money.

Cheech · 05-30-07, 03:32 PM

Dont hate LAPD

**Rhino** · 05-30-07, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Terminator

Such training had been abandoned in an attempt to save money.

And there you have it, folks. Another case of the Powers-That-Be trying to cut a few corners and it coming back to bite them in the ass. Take money out of any dept but the police and you won't have that problem.

When you send anyone in to handle a problem they aren't trained to handle, they are going to handle it one way: the best they can.

**Lazy Fed** · 05-30-07, 04:44 PM

And they did handle it!!! The fucking people should have not thorwn rocks.

Cheech · 05-30-07, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Lazy Fed

And they did handle it!!! The fucking people should have not thorwn rocks.

Exactly!

**conalabu** · 05-30-07, 05:58 PM

LAPD has the worst damn rep out of any department in the US.

**cntryboy0531** · 05-30-07, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Lazy Fed

And they did handle it!!! The fucking people should have not thorwn rocks.

Exactly. Protest all you want, but the second bottles and rocks start to fly, it's time for everyone to go home, or face the consequences.

**countybear** · 05-31-07, 03:52 AM

Yes, gentlemen... You have to hold an orderly riot with a bunch of flagrant felon aliens. If they throw rocks and bottles, you must respond with choruses of "Give Peace a Chance". Hide behind your shields and chant your best Gandhi lines. If they threaten you further, run screaming like a bunch of little girls and let them own the streets. After all, they are honored guests in this country. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for honoring us with their illegal presence.

In the immortal words of Jackie Gleason, "What in the hell is this world coming to?"