FORMGEN. 160 CITY OF LOS ANGELES INTER-DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE C.F. No. 20-0729 Date: March 10, 2021 To: Honorable Members, Los Angeles City Council From: Sharon M. Tso, Chief Legislative Analyst ~ Subject: REPORT BY INDEPENDENT COUNSEL, GERALD CHALEFF, OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT RESPONSE TO PROTESTS IN MAY/JUNE 2020 SUMMARY On June 30, 2020, the Council adopted a Motion (Harris-Dawson - Bonin - Rodriguez - Ryu, Council File No. 20-0729) which instructed the Police Department (LAPD) to include an analysis of LAPD's crowd control tactics and compliance with existing departmental policies and legal mandates during the civil unrest resulting from the death of George Floyd in May 2020, as part of the After-Action Report requested by Motion (Rodriguez - Harris-Dawson, Council File No. 20-0686). In addition, this Motion instructed the LAPD to request that Mr. Gerald Chaleff, author of the LAP D's review of the 2007 May Day incident, take the lead on this report. This review has been completed, and this office is now transmitting this report to Council on behalf of Mr. Chaleff. This report has also been transmitted to the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC), who will consider this and two additional After-Action Reports, one authored by LAPD staff and another by the National Police Foundation. Both of these reports are expected to be completed by the end of March 2021. For context, the Council may wish to consider the attached report when all three reports have been submitted to the BOPC. Attachment: "An Independent Examination of the Los Angeles Police Department 2020 Protest Response" SMT:jwd 1 An Independent Examination Of The Los Angeles Police Department 2020 Protest Response Report by Independent Counsel, Gerald Chaleff i AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE i 1 i AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE i Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 4 II. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 14 Section 2.01 Background and Methodology ........................................................................ 14 Section 2.02 Civil Unrest in Los Angeles ............................................................................... 15 Section 2.03 Consent Decree ............................................................................................... 16 Section 2.04 Settlements in Los Angeles .............................................................................. 16 Section 2.05 Department Organization ................................................................................ 18 Section 2.06 Incident Command System Concept ............................................................... 19 III. Timeline Summary of Major Events ........................................................................................ 21 IV. Observations and Findings ...................................................................................................... 24 Section 4.01 Planning ........................................................................................................... 24 (a) Public Information and Messaging ............................................................................. 26 Section 4.02 Command and Control .................................................................................... 26 (a) Command and Control ............................................................................................... 27 (b) Intelligence ................................................................................................................. 27 (c) Operations Central Bureau Command Post ............................................................... 29 (d) Operations Central Bureau Staging Area.................................................................... 30 (e) Operations West Bureau Command Post ................................................................... 31 (f) Mutual Aid .................................................................................................................. 32 Section 4.03 Public Order Policing ....................................................................................... 34 (a) Mobile Field Force Configuration ............................................................................... 38 (b) Shadow Teams ............................................................................................................ 40 Section 4.04 Less Lethal Tools .............................................................................................. 41 (a) 40mm Launcher Deploying the 40 mm eXact iMpact Sponge Round ....................... 41 (b) 37mm Launcher Deploying the 37 mm Foam Baton Black Powder Round ............... 42 (c) Beanbag Shotgun ........................................................................................................ 42 (d) Hornets Nest Sting Grenade, .60 Caliber Rubber Balls............................................... 43 (e) Less Lethal Use............................................................................................................ 43 2 i AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE i (f) Handheld Baton .......................................................................................................... 45 Section 4.05 Planning for Mass Arrests and Citations ......................................................... 46 (a) Citations Related to Mass Arrests .............................................................................. 46 (b) Transportation of Arrestees ....................................................................................... 48 (c) Field Jails ..................................................................................................................... 49 Section 4.06 Preparedness and Training .............................................................................. 50 Section 4.07 Wellness ........................................................................................................... 53 Section 4.08 Community Input ............................................................................................. 56 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 57 VI. List of Findings ........................................................................................................................ 58 VII. Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 65 VIII. Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 76 Appendix 1: Review Team Members and Other Contributors .......................................... 76 Appendix 2: Methodology and Limitations ........................................................................ 79 Appendix 3: 1992 After-Action Report Findings ................................................................ 81 Appendix 4: 2001 Consent Decree Details ......................................................................... 82 Appendix 5: 2000 DNC National Lawyers Guild Settlement Information .......................... 83 Appendix 6: 2007 MacArthur Park Settlement .................................................................. 84 Appendix 7: 2011 Occupy Los Angeles ............................................................................... 85 Appendix 8: 2014 Ferguson................................................................................................ 86 Appendix 9: Key Terms ....................................................................................................... 87 Appendix 10: Incident Command System Structures .......................................................... 91 Appendix 11: LAPD and FEMA National Concepts of Emergency Management ................. 93 Appendix 12: LAPD Less Lethal Tools ................................................................................... 94 Appendix 13: History of Training 1992-2020 ....................................................................... 96 IX. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 99 3 i AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE i I. Executive Summary The death of George Floyd sparked protests across the United States. The protests in Los Angeles began on May 27, 2020 and continued for many weeks. In Los Angeles there were many peaceful protests, but some erupted in violence, arson, looting and vandalism. On June 30, the Los Angeles City Council approved a motion that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) prepare an after action report, and that Gerald Chaleff lead the review of the Department’s actions during the protests. This report has been prepared pursuant to that motion, although the Department ultimately decided to prepare its own report. Because of that decision, an independent review team was assembled to prepare this report. In the protests in Los Angeles in May-June 2020, there were small groups that were primarily responsible for the violence and criminal