LA Police Commission Approves Reforms Aimed at Reducing Number of Shootings

The Los Angeles Police Commission approved a sweeping set of reforms Tuesday aimed at getting officers to hold their fire. 

One of the reforms requires officers to exhaust all non-lethal means before shooting, and practice de-escalation during incidents. The department already teaches this in its academy for new recruits, but enacting it as policy means that officers could be disciplined for failing to see a reasonable alternative to shooting.

The package approved by the police commission also includes providing more training for officers to help them develop better de-escalation and verbal skills when confronted with a violent suspect.

Finally, the commission asked the department to come back in 90 days with specifics on how it can be more transparent after shootings.

Police union leaders have denounced the proposals, worried it will make officers hesitant to shoot, thus endangering their own lives, SCPR.org reports.

“The commission has become nothing more than a group of pandering apologists in support of misinformed professional protesters,” the union’s board of directors said in a statement. “These latest batch of proposals are more of the same, solutions in search of a problem.”