An Independent Examination Of The Los Angeles Police Department 2020 Protest Response Report by Independent Counsel, Gerald Chaleff AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE 1 AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE 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 AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE (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 AN INDEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT 2020 PROTEST RESPONSE 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 activity, which resulted in the disruption of protestors’ ability to exercise their First Amendment rights. Additionally, these disrupters were throwing dangerous objects at the police. The level of violence committed by these small groups had not been seen at demonstrations in years. The lack of adequate planning and preparation caused the Department to be reactive, rather than proactive, and inhibited the Department’s ability to have better control over the violence being committed by small groups of individuals whose objectives were to create chaos and confrontation with the police. Additionally, looting occurred that appeared to be well coordinated with “scouts” and convoys of up to ten cars targeting a given location. It was also believed that some of the organized looting was gang related while other looting seemed to be opportunistic. When the police responded to interdict or make arrests the looters would quickly disperse only to regroup elsewhere to attack another target. The Department initially did not have enough resources or strategies to contain the looting. Eventually using tactics developed by the air unit observers, officers were able to make arrests and reduce the amount of looting that occurred. The Review Team found deficiencies in the following areas that impacted the Department’s actions during the protests: (1) planning, (2) command and control, (3) public order policing, (4) less lethal tools, (5) mass arrests, (6) preparedness and training and (7) wellness. PLANNING It appears the Department believed that if protests arising out of George Floyd’s death occurred in Los Angeles,