After the release of a number of photographs by the Los Angeles Police Protective League that showed some confidential police personnel records were being stored without adequate safeguards, a councilmantoday demanded an audit of personnel record-keeping practices throughout city government.
"The LAPD's sloppy handling of officer personnel files has been dangerous, careless, reckless and simply inexcusable,'' Councilman Paul Koretz said.
"These files are supposed to be kept confidential for good reason --after all, a leak of personal information to the wrong people can place an officer and her or his family at grave risk, and can also pose threats to anyone else who happens to be mentioned in a file,'' Koretz said.
LAPPL president Paul Weber said his union has been complaining for years about sloppy handling of confidential material.
"While some have dismissed the concerns, example after example has surfaced and validate the notion that this is not a priority for management, evidenced by the fact that safeguards are still not in place for the handling and storing of officers' confidential information,'' Weber said.
Koretz filed a motion calling on the City Controller to conduct the audit of personnel record-keeping practices city-wide, starting with the LAPD, so that departmental or systemic lapses could be corrected.
"This may mean a greater use of technology -- or it may mean we simply keep such records under lock and key," Koretz said. "Either way, there's no excuse for laziness, sloppiness or ignorance, since even a single failure may produce all kinds of harm, whether it be an unfairly damaged reputation, litigation or worse."
Councilman Dennis Zine, chairman of the City Council's Personnel Committee and a former a former LAPD officer said, "We must make certain that we maintain the confidentiality and integrity of our personnel records to ensure that officers stay safe and that employees trust the city's management practices."
In one of the photos released by the LAPPL, several stacks of document boxes were shown in a back hallway near the employee main entrance of LAPD's Northeast Station.
The boxes contained confidential personnel complaints against LAPD officers, including names, serial numbers and work locations, in an area accessible to all employees.
