WHY POLICE NEED SCRUTINY

Maywood's desultory police force illustrates why the public should
have access to officers' records.

WHERE DO sheriff's deputies and LAPD officers go after they've been
fired for abusing their authority or misbehaving on the job?
According to a Times investigation published Sunday, at least a few
have ended up policing the streets of the tiny, beleaguered cities of
Maywood and Cudahy, densely-packed municipalities in the southeast
portion of Los Angeles County.

Maywood is patrolled in part by convicted criminals, officers who
expect free meals at local restaurants and others who the acting
police chief said "slipped through the cracks" and helped give the
37-member force a reputation as the "department of second chances."
Even the chief has a criminal record.

Maywood's challenges are so pervasive that no single solution --
certainly no single piece of legislation -- can turn it around. But
one bill could help prevent future Maywoods from happening by
restoring the public's access to information about the people who
patrol their streets. State Senate Bill 1019, by Majority Leader
Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), is a response to the California
Supreme Court decision last August that ended the ability of many
cities to open officer employment and discipline records.

The bill would not instantly reverse Maywood's problems -- even
before the Supreme Court decision, officer records could only be
opened via city action. But even in municipalities with higher police
standards, like Los Angeles, the public needs to know what kind of
people are enforcing the law and how they are doing it. LAPD officers
chafe at having their personnel records subject to scrutiny, but
knowledge of how they do their jobs mostly reinforces public confidence.

In "second chance" cities, officers now protected from scrutiny may
truly have something to worry about if Romero's bill becomes law.
That's as it should be. A city like Maywood must put public safety
ahead of providing scrutiny-free employment opportunities to cops who
couldn't meet the standards in more reputable departments.