12.pdf

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE SPECIAL ORDER NO.12 May APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS POLICY PROHIBITING BIASED POLICING SUBJECT: 28, 2021 ON May 25, 2021 — REVISED BACKGROUND: Recently, American policing has faced tremendous challenges. Various incidents around the country ha...

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE SPECIAL ORDER NO.12 May APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS POLICY PROHIBITING BIASED POLICING SUBJECT: 28, 2021 ON May 25, 2021 — REVISED BACKGROUND: Recently, American policing has faced tremendous challenges. Various incidents around the country have increased community fears and perceptions of biased policing. If segments of the community are victims of policing bias, or even if they perceive that they are, a barrier is created between the law enforcement community and the very community that it protects. Although the Department has long been committed to ensuring that we provide service to our communities in a manner that is fair and equitable, a need has arisen to strengthen and renew this commitment to the people that we serve. This purpose of this Order is to revise the Department’s policy on biased policing, in order to expand on its foundation and purpose to conduct policing as the essential fabric of society that it is, while also protecting the rights of all individuals. The revised policy will invariably assist personnel in gaining a broader understanding and awareness of biased policing, in order to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of all people. PURPOSE: PROCEDURE: Department Manual Section 1/345, Policy Prohibiting Biased Policing, has been revised, Attached is the revised manual section with the revisions indicated in italics. AMMENDMENT: This Order amends Section 1/345 of the Department Manual. AUDIT RESPONSIBILITY: The Commanding Officer, Audit Division, shall review this directive and determine whether an audit or inspection shall be conducted in accordance with Department Manual Section 0/080.30. MICHBER. MOORE Chief of Police Attachment DISTRIBUTION “D” DEPARTMENT MANUAL VOLUME I Revised by Special Order No. 12, 2021 POLICY PROHIBITING BIASED POLICING. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD or the Department) expressly prohibits all forms of biased policing. This policy re-emphasizes the Department's commitment to serving all members of the public in a just, transparent and equitable manner, consistent with their civil and individual rights, and in accordance with existing policies and procedures. 345. Discriminatory conduct on the basis of an individual's actual or perceived race, religion, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, immigration or employment status, English language fluency or homeless circumstance, is prohibited while performing any law enforcement activity. All law enforcement contacts and activities, including, but not limited to, calls for service, investigations, policeinitiated stops or detentions, and activities following stops or detentions, shall be unbiased and based on legitimate, articulable facts, consistent with the standards of reasonable suspicion or probable cause as required by federal and state law. Officers shall not initiate police action where the objective is to discover the civil immigration status of any person and shall strictly adhere to the Department's immigration enforcement guidelines as outlined in Department Manual Sections 4/264.50 and 4/264.55. or rely on any of the following actual or perceived characteristics or identifiers in deciding which persons to subject to a stop or in deciding upon the scope or substance of law enforcement activities following a stop, except when engaging in the investigation of appropriate suspect-specific activity to identify a particular person or group: Department personnel may not consider ® race e e e © religion color ethnicity national origin ® age e © © e e gender gender identity gender expression sexual orientation disability (to any extent or degree) © « e immigration status employment status English language fluency or e homeless circumstance Law enforcement activities include, but are not limited to, traffic or pedestrian stops, actions during a stop, (such as asking questions), frisks, consensual and nonconsensual searches of a person or any property, seizing any property, removing vehicle occupants during a traffic stop, issuing a citation, and making an arrest. Department personnel seeking one or more specific persons who have been identified or described in part by one or more of the above characteristics may rely, in part, on the specified identifier or description only in combination with other appropriate identifying factors; and may not grant the specified identifier or description undue weight. A failure to comply with this policy is counterproductive to professional law enforcement and considered to be an act of serious misconduct. Any employee who becomes aware of biased policing or any other violation of this policy shall report it in accordance with established Department procedures. is