LAPD Responds to Police Foundation Report “The Police Under Attack” NR14176as

May 5, 2014

Los Angeles: The Washington D.C. based Police Foundation has issued its report on law enforcement’s response to the February, 2013 shooting attacks on police officers and their families in Southern California. This multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional law enforcement effort to track down and capture a homicidal former police officer was unprecedented in modern law enforcement. Before the manhunt ended four people had lost their lives to this deranged killer, more than 70 individuals and their families were under protection, and the search for the suspect spanned across the country and multiple law enforcement jurisdictions.

The Los Angeles Police Department would like to formally thank the Police Foundation for their review of the actions of each of the involved law enforcement agencies during that difficult time. In the aftermath of this ordeal, LAPD began an internal review of our actions, and began working on improving our response to situations of this nature. The newly released Police Foundation report identified several specific areas for local law enforcement to improve, and also identified valuable lessons learned. The areas for improvement include:

1. Further build out of the Joint Regional Intelligence Center;
2. Improve communications capabilities and interoperability between agencies;
3. Refine law enforcement clue management systems;
4. Provide training for deployment of protection details; and,
5. Control self-deployment of law enforcement personnel.

The Los Angeles Police Department and has already begun work on implementing the recommendations made.

"As we review this report, and continue to reevaluate our law enforcement response, let us not forget the lives that were lost, and the families that were torn apart by this killer," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "We are profoundly grateful to our law enforcement partners throughout the region, for their tireless work, cooperation, and their willingness to literally put their lives on the line to end this murderer’s rampage. We will continue to partner with them to protect our communities and improve our capabilities in the future."