LAPD Not Sufficiently Checking Patrol Car Videos for Officer Misconduct, Audit Finds

The Los Angeles Police Commission's civilian watchdog has faulted police supervisors for not proactively checking in-car video recordings to monitor for officer misconduct, according to an audit released Friday, reports the Los Angeles Times .

Inspector General Alex Bustamante said police officials generally review recordings only when investigating "critical incidents," such as shootings and pursuits, or when a complaint has been made against officers.

Moving forward, Bustamante wrote, his office would conduct "regular and substantive reviews" of the recordings to help LAPD officials "evaluate and improve the in-car video system's operation on an ongoing basis."

As a result of the findings, the report said, the inspector general and LAPD officials took steps "that will enable the department to obtain more complete video of each stop." Those steps included drafting a new directive that "explicitly requires" officers to activate the cameras at the initiation of all stops.