LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Law Enforcement Leaders in Washington, D.C. NR15360jr

Washington DC: Today, Los
Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck joined President Obama and Bill
Keller, Editor-in-Chief of The Marshall Project, for a conversation
on criminal justice reform with US Attorney John Walsh from
Colorado. The focus of the discussion was how to make America’s law
enforcement and correctional practices more just and
effective.

Said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, “There is an important and
necessary national conversation happening right now about
use-of-force and the role of police, especially in communities of
color.

Though L.A. has a painful history and still experiences difficult
moments today, we have taken extraordinary steps to break from the
past – and our achievements and commitment to continuing progress
have earned our city a place among America’s leaders in 21st
century policing and criminal justice reform. That is affirmed by
Chief Beck’s conversation with President Obama today at the White
House, as they discuss ways that America’s law enforcement and
correctional practices can be made fairer and more effective.

Cities across the nation can find transformative lessons in L.A.’s
story – as we deepen our police department’s relationships with the
communities they serve, emphasize de-escalation tactics and
transparency through what will be the nation’s largest body-camera
program, and provide pathways to second chances for nonviolent
offenders instead of pipelines to prison.”

Said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, “We have to recognize that all crimes
do not carry the same weight and some crimes involve addiction and
mental illness and have other pathways that can be more effective
than incarceration. We are a reflection of a much larger issue in
America. There is racial disparity in housing, in employment, in
the entire economic system… We have to look at these things in
totality and address them as a nation.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has embraced the recommendations
from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing Interim
Report released earlier this year. A key pillar of the Interim
Report pertains to developing policy and oversight with regard to
Police Training and Education. This summer, Chief Beck unveiled a
five-hour block of training to every field officer in the LAPD on
the topic of reverence for life. The training utilized historical
reference points including the 1992 Riots and the Rampart
Corruption Scandal, as well as national use of force incidents to
highlight key transformational moments in the department’s history.
The course included a block on building our capacity to engage the
mentally ill. Officers took away the reminder that reverence for
all life is the cornerstone to constitutional policing.

Chief Beck addressed a second pillar of the report – Community
Policing and Crime Reduction – through continued growth of the
Cadet program, establishing an LAPD Headquarters Cadet Post in
order to recognize the voice of youth in community decision-making.
The Department is also spearheading a Juvenile Arrest Diversion
Program in Operations-South Bureau designed to keep first time
offenders from jail time through social engagement, education, and
job training.

The panel discussion at the White House was live-streamed at 2:00
PM Eastern Time Thursday. It can be viewed at The Marshall Project
and Yahoo.