LAPD Domestic Violence Cases to Be Reviewed

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday directed the department’s civilian watchdog to investigate the LAPD’s handling of domestic abuse allegations against its own officers to determine whether the department is more lenient on officers than it is on the public.

LAPD Inspector General Katherine Mader, who oversees the department’s disciplinary matters, told the commission she plans to review past and present cases to find out “whether the LAPD goes easy” on officers accused of domestic violence. If it does, Mader said, she will expand the investigation and look at how officers accused of other crimes are treated.

Her probe is, in part, a response to news reports on court documents that show about 60 officers investigated by the department after having been accused of domestic abuse during a five-year period ending in 1992 were not arrested.

Mader said she plans to look at those files as well as cases after 1992 to determine whether the department’s practices and policies need to be changed. An LAPD spokesman has said that for the past year, the department has referred all such cases to prosecutors for review for possible criminal charges.