LAPD Chief Orders Elite Officers Retrained

Bratton mops up after May Day rally violence
By Sarah Seltzer
Posted May 7, 2007 8:42 AM CDT
LAPD Chief Orders Elite Officers Retrained
Protesters stand outside Los Angeles City Hall before a news conference where Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others discussed issues related to the clash between LAPD officers and demonstrators, journalists and others at a May 1 immigration rights rally at MacArthur Park, at a City Hall...   (Associated Press)

Citing "things that shouldn't have been done," LAPD Chief William Bratton apologized yesterday for the actions of an elite platoon that broke up a pro-immigration May Day rally and said the officers involved are off the streets and will be retrained. The officers' prestigious assignment is in jeopardy after police batons and projectiles injured both protesters and journalists.

"This was my best, and that was what was extraordinarily disturbing about this," Bratton said of the Metropolitan Division's conduct, adding that commanders will also be held accountable when the department reports to the city council on May 30. "We are being damned before a trial or investigation," said police union head Bob Baker. (More William Bratton stories.)

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