California Attorney General announced an independent investigation to audit police records
LOS ANGELES.- The attorney general from California, Xavier Becerraannounced Monday an investigation by alleged false classification as members of gangs to drivers arrested in traffic stops, and thus entered into a state database.
"The fake data or inaccurate they contaminate a system totally dependent on the integrity of said data. It undermines the hard work of collecting intelligence legitimate carried out by other officers, ”Becerra said at a press conference in Los Angeles.
As we report in this medium, at the beginning of the year it was revealed that several agents of the Police department of the Angels (LAPD, in English) were investigated for allegedly falsify information of people who randomly stopped at traffic lights, after a mother will report what his son had been misidentified how gangster.
When reviewed on body camera video that carried the officer who made the report, a lack of precision in the process but still the young man was entered into the database Cal gang, which is for the exclusive use of the authorities and where they appear suspected of belonging to gangs.
"Any program abuse is unacceptable, ”Becerra settled around the incident that led to an investigation of the Office of Internal Affairs which has already been extended to at least 20 officers and has put this database under the magnifying glass again.
In 2016 one state audit he discovered that Cal Gang lacked supervision and that they had including names of people who had no affiliation with these groups, even "people who were still children," as the state prosecutor recalled today.
The audit effectively found names of children as young as one year old classified as gang members, a situation that led to the state legislature approving a rule that empowers the prosecution to make the necessary improvements in the database used by all police units in California.
Becerra stressed that "as part of that supervisory responsibility, it will take appropriate measures to hold those who abuse the system accountable."
Regarding the ongoing investigation, he announced an independent audit on the entries made in CalGang by LAPD agents, but not limited to the metropolitan division, and that will include the review of the camera images and any other recording.
In addition, the internal controls and policies of the agency will be examined to improve the responsibility of the officers using the system.
Becerra's office wants officers who use the database to understand, among other things, the legal and social consequences for people who enter this database, qualified by Becerra as a weapon to prevent crime and in which there are more than 80,000 people admitted In this internal system.
From November 1, 2017 to October 31, 2018, the Los Angeles Police made 20,583 records, more than 20% of all records in the database, rising as the agency that made the most income in the system, followed by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (THE D, in English) with 17% of total records.
The Prosecutor recalled that the new law gives his department the authority to suspend or revoke access to the database, or issue a letter of censure.
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