[dropcap size=big]C[/dropcap]ivil rights and transparency activists decried the decision by Inglewood Mayor James Butts to destroy more than 100 police shooting records, which includes the destruction in some cases of years of investigative work, just days before a new state law would allow the public access to them.
The Inglewood City Council earlier this month approved the action ahead of the January 1 implementation of state Senate Bill 1421, which will make public investigations of officer shootings, use of major force, confirmed cases of sexual assault, and lying while on duty.
Access to those records could open a window into Inglewood’s police department, which has been beset by allegations of excessive force, poor officer training, and a lack of transparency.
In 2008, department officers shot four men in four months. Three turned out to be unarmed. The records that the city will destroy would include investigations into those shootings from 10 years ago. The Justice Department launched a probe and found flaws in the way the department oversaw use-of-force cases and investigations involving complaints against officers.
The city’s decision attracted more than routine attention because of its timing and because it represented a change in city policy. Inglewood had required the Police Department to retain records on shootings involving officers for 25 years after the close of an investigation. That is until this month. The ones to be destroyed extend as far back as 1991. The new law aimed at allowing public access to exactly the type of records held by the Inglewood Police Department, regardless of the date of the incident.