Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday that the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Manuel Jamines will be completed “much sooner” than the usual eight months it takes for the department’s Force Investigation Division to finish such a report.

The death of the 37-year-old day laborer, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Westlake, has sparked controversy around the city.

Beck said that he “felt it was important for the whole city, not just the department, that we get the facts out as soon as possible.”

Beck also acknowledged that some critics might not be too keen on the idea of paying special attention to a single investigation, especially with more than two dozen people shot by LAPD officers each year. Yet, he said the LAPD felt strong reaction to the Jamines case required it to be pushed to the front of the line.

Though the LAPD will move quickly with the investigation, Beck said he is not sure exactly when it will be finished.

Beck also told members of the Police Commission that he plans to bring together leaders from some of these Central American immigrant communities to start a forum for periodic meetings, in response to the controversy sparked by Jamines’ death.

The Los Angeles Police Commission also announced Tuesday that it has made significant progress in processing reports on other incidents of officer-involved violence.

The commission instructed Nicole Bershon, inspector general for the organization, to publish a report for each case in which an officer fires a weapon, strikes someone on the head or uses other types of serious force.

Since a Times article revealed that hundreds of reports were ignored under Bershon’s predecessor, Bershon told members of the oversight panel that she and her staff had managed to publish 90 of these overdue reports. She also promised to publish a number of the reports each week until the backlog diminished.

After L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks called for Bershon and department officials to report to the council on the scope of the problem, Bershon said Tuesday that staffing shortages in her office complicated their efforts to erase the accumulation of cases, but that she planned to respond to Parks’ motion. 

Bershon also mentioned that the number of reports remaining to be published is estimated at “less than 200.”

 

Reach reporter Eleanor Walper here.

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