LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A controversial Los Angeles Police Department program that uses data to identify persons who are most likely to commit violent crimes and was criticized in an audit and by privacy groups will soon be ended by Chief Michel Moore, it was reported today.
On Friday, Moore sent a five-page memo to the Police Commission that contained a detailed list of changes in response to the audit by Inspector General Mark Smith, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The audit found the department's data analysis programs lacked oversight and officers used inconsistent criteria to deem people as “chronic offenders,” the paper reported. The overall effectiveness of a component to pinpoint the location of certain property crimes could not be determined, the audit found.
In the memo, Moore told commissioners the department will not use programs that fail to produce results, the Times said.
LAPD Officer Hannu Tarjamo, a director at the Los Angeles Police Protective League, told the paper, the data programs can be helpful, but they also distract officers from police work. Community policing is done best when officers learn areas and know who commits the crimes, Tarjamo said.
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