Statement by Chief Bratton Lawsuit Filed

Los Angeles: Chief William Bratton provided the following statement in response to a lawsuit announced today:

"The allegations being made by the plaintiffs are so outrageous and without foundation, they do not merit a response other than that we will be happy to see them in court, where I expect the Department will prevail."

"I have based my whole career on ensuring equal opportunity to all people, and I stand on my record at LAPD of appointing qualified minorities and women. Among my most recent promotions are: Commander Sandy Jo MacArthur, the LAPD’s first woman, to be in charge of LAPD’s training function; Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger, an African American who runs the Department’s patrol and detective operations; Deputy Chief Mark Perez, a Latino chosen to fill the vacancy as head of Professional Standards Bureau; Commander Ken Garner, an African American in charge of LAPD’s recruitment and hiring; and Rhonda Sims-Lewis, an African American and the Department’s highest ranking civilian woman.”

On the issue of expanding and reconfiguring the Critical Incident Investigation Division (CIID), the forerunner of Force Investigation Division, Chief Bratton said:

"The organizational and personnel changes in CIID were partly due to recommendations and concerns raised by the Federal Monitor, which was concerned about the quality of the CIID investigations at the time."