LA cops escalate war with the city after jaw-dropping ‘blunder’

Los Angeles’ powerful police union is demanding City Hall slam the brakes on a controversial LAPD oversight overhaul that would expand political influence over police policy, accusing city officials of breaking labor laws and misleading the City Council.

In a letter sent to the City Council on Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Protective League blasted what it called an “embarrassing, systemic blunder” by the Office of the City Administrative Officer, claiming officials never properly engaged the union over proposed city charter changes that could significantly alter police oversight and officer discipline.

The California Post has been reporting on the proposed overhaul since the idea first surfaced before the Charter Reform Commission in April.

The proposals would shift significant authority over LAPD policy from the mayor-appointed Board of Police Commissioners to elected City Councilmembers.

At the center of the dispute are claims made during public meetings that city officials had reached out to the union multiple times to discuss proposed charter amendments affecting police officers.

“Somebody within the City Administration and/or the Employee Relations Group did not follow the law and did not formally contact us to meet and confer over potential changes to our city charter, they screwed up,” LAPPL President Ricky Mendoza said in a statement.

“They need to own up to their mistake, correct the record with the City Council and follow the law. It’s that simple.”

In a meeting with the Ad Hoc Committee on City Governance Reform on Monday, city officials told councilmembers they contacted LAPPL Director Craig Lally regarding the reforms through emails sent on Feb. 23, March 4 and May 19.

But after reviewing those communications, the police union says none of the emails addressed police oversight, officer discipline, the LAPD, the Police Commission, Boards of Rights or any other issue tied to the proposed charter amendments.

“The word police never appears,” the union wrote.

Instead, the emails allegedly focused on unrelated city personnel matters, including civil service hiring reforms, authorized staffing positions and retirement system issues affecting other bargaining units.

The union also said it uncovered an additional June 11 “Last, Best and Final Offer” email that city officials did not mention during council discussions.

According to LAPPL, that communication similarly dealt with vocational trainees, clerks and Department of Water and Power personnel rather than police operations.

The league says the omission is more than a paperwork mistake.

Under California labor law and a California Supreme decision, public agencies are generally required to meet and confer with employee organizations over matters that affect working conditions and representation rights before placing certain charter changes before voters.

The union says City Hall failed to satisfy those obligations before advancing the proposed ballot measures.

As a result, the LAPPL is asking the City Council to immediately suspend consideration of any charter amendments affecting police officers until the required labor negotiations take place.

City officials have argued the LAPD reforms are intended to improve accountability and modernize city governance. The union, however, says the process itself has now become the issue.

“If the city administration completely failed to follow clear legal guidelines and chose to hide that mistake until the end of the legislative process,” the letter states, “the Council should suspend any further consideration of Charter amendments that impact LAPPL members.”

The City Administrative Officer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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