Chief Charlie Beck’s Statement on Christopher Jordan Dorner

Los Angeles: I have no doubt that the law enforcement community will bring to an end the reign of terror perpetrated on our region by Christopher Jordan Dorner and he will be held accountable for his evil actions. The families that have been devastated by his actions will never be the same.  By all accounts, the Los Angeles Police Department has made tremendous strides in gaining the trust and confidence of the people we serve. Dorner’s actions may cause a pause in our increasingly positive relationship with the community but, it will not stop our commitment to provide courteous, professional and constitutional policing to each individual this Department makes contact with.  I am aware of the ghosts of the LAPD’s past and one of my biggest concerns is that they will be resurrected by Dorner’s allegations of racism within the Department. But, I also know that we are a better organization now than ever before; better but not perfect.  Fairness and equality are now the cornerstones of our values and that is reflected by the present diversity of the department.  We are a majority of minorities, almost exactly reflecting the ethnic makeup of Los Angeles. As hard as it has been to change the culture of the Los Angeles Police Department, it has been even more difficult to win and maintain the support of the public.  As much as I value our successes in reducing crime, I value even more our gains in public confidence. Therefore I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner’s allegations regarding his termination of employment, and to do so I have directed our Professionals Standards Bureau and my Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing to completely review the Dorner complaint of 2007;  To include a re-examination of all evidence and a re-interview of  witnesses.  We will also investigate any allegations made in his manifesto which were not included in his original complaint. I do this not to appease a murderer.  I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do.

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Comments

[Jose Cardenas]

I don't agree with what Chris D. is doing but I do believe there are many bad LAPD cops out there. The Chief knows there are bad cops & needs to come out to the public and admit it. These bad cops started at the 77TH with Perez stealing drugs to West LA with Mark Fhurman a real bad cop and racist. One thing that these cops forgot to do was honor among each other! Never rat another Officer when they beat the crap out of people!

[Bernard Burawski, Chief Yeoman, U.S. Navy (Ret.)]

It doesn't seem to me that LAPD should be investigating itself in this matter. In all fairness the investigation should be handled by an outside agency or by DOJ. The public does not believe that the LAPD can police itself in this matter. I hope you consider this because any investigation the LAPD does will not have the credibility needed to convince the public of the agency's transparency and fairness.

[ron]

I don't agree with the way he is doing things. But I believe everything he is saying. He broke the code of silence.

[BWop]

To all the morally confused people expressing their opinions on the Dorner case, let me ask a simple question. Dorner lied to keep himself from looking bad on fitness reports. He was fired. Then he sued in Superior Court and lost. Then he appealed to the Appellate Court and lost again.

So, his claims and accusations against the LAPD were rejected as excuses in two different court settings. Does that matter? Yet, those who read his ramblings and self pity writings take it as truth and believe it. And these same people became jurors in our system. No wonder our society is morally bankrupt.

[JC]

I'm not hearing this on the news, but do you have a woman negotiator that can connect with Dormer before he kills himself or others? In my very humble opinion, if you want to bring him in alive, I think that you will have a better chance if a woman talks with him. He's ashamed of what has happened to him with his job loss. He's sees himself as a "protector"-Armed Forces, LAPD, and he feels that he's failed. He hasn't, but if a connection can be made - if a woman reaches out to him, it may work.

[Jose RIvera]

You can't trust criminals to convict themselves. To truly believe that any law enforcement organization is capable of anything other than protecting themselves is laughable. The biggest problem with these agencies is that they operate on a level that they believe is above the law. They arbitrarily choose which laws to enforce and which to ignore. They give an impression of valor and honor to a society that is so lost it cannot see that the people sworn to protect them are the ones hurting them the most. Then when one of their own speaks out he is outcast and forced to bring public awareness the only way that it can happen anymore, through violence. These people turned this man into what they call a criminal but any true American and patriot knows is a martyr. He dared to speak against the brotherhood and now will most likely pay with his life. Congratulations, Chief Beck, you have a lot to be proud of, turning one of your own into this.

[Natasha]

The goal of an investigation such as this should not be to prove a point to anyone. If you want to reassure the public, ensure that the investigation is conducted in the persuit of truth and justice. Whatever the truth is, own up to it and deal with it.

[Wayne King]

What really concerns me is the fact LAPD officers opened fire on a civilian vehicle containing two innocent females with NO immediate threat level present, nor confirmation of the occupants identity or that the suspect was even present.
This is a sign of very, very poor training and judgement on all police officers involved and the department itself.
This action is definitely NOT the way you gain the public's trust, instead you create paranoia and chaos.
The two innocent female occupants that were fired upon could have been mine or yours Mother, Daughter, Sister, Wife, Child, ect...
I would hope the LAPD starts focusing on the serious lack of professionalism and training portrayed and clearly lack.
This is not the "Wild West" folks.
As an upstanding citizen I have absolutely no faith in the LAPD after this incident. Do you?
The DOJ needs to hold the LAPD accountable here and will.
I would also like to mention it is OUR taxpayer $ dollars $ that are going to pay for the lawsuit/settlement sure to arise from this.
If any LAPD officers are reading this, just remember the (3) C's..
Calm, Cool, Collectivism.
May God help us all!

[JImbo]

Chris is gown and GOD will judge him now. But, if we learned any lessons to take away from this horrible ordeal is that we should treat each other with respect and let go of racism and teach our children to do the same. All eyes is on LAPD to be the example.

[Felice]

LAPD has been reigning terror on minority communities for years. Watching how LAPD and other agencies shoot first ask questions later is frightening. I am more afraid of the Police than your garden variety criminal. LAPD is sworn to uphold the law and to protect and to serve and far too often, it is the police officer that many in the community fear. I believe that there are a vast number of decent law enforcement officers but there is a stain and taint (Blue Line) that has poisoned community relations. I was once engaged to an LAPD officer and from the moment he completed the Academy, his personality was altered and he was no longer the decent man that I had known. Further, LAPD was not truly interested in apprehending Dorner and investigating the complaints and giving him Due Process. The whole goal was to be judge, jury and executioner and then slap each other on the back like you won the championship game. I no longer live in LA but the memories of LAPD is forever etched in my mind and what I remember is not good and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't condone Dorner taking innocent lives but I can understand what drove him to snap and to seek revenge. An outside organization needs to investigate from the top down all of the corrupt dealings within LAPD, the LA City Attorney/DA offices and root out this cancer in your ranks if you want the respect of the citizens that you are sworn to serve. Right now, I think LAPD is a cesspool of evil and no better than any other terrorist gang.

[Jay]

I was wondering why in the Dorner case, "Bachman told reporters that she didn't know how the fire started, but noted there was gunfire between the person in the cabin and officers around the home before the blaze began.". When in reality it was set by the cops involved? As recorded over the scanner and posted multiple times on youtube???

[Sean]

Dorner had me thinking of Rambo, the movie . He's not as perfect as the hero in this movie, but cops are the same as those in the movie: racial animosity, shooting innocent civilian, corruption, butality

[matt]

What are the LAPD's thoughts on the 72 year old women that they shot in the back while driving her bright blue Toyota Tacoma? How could a 'trained' officer mistake this vehicle for a dark Nissan titan? And what justified officers responding to that shooting to open fire on a Honda Ridgeline?

[Fednel]

Over the past five decades there have been countless reports of police brutality exhibited by the LAPD (Im sure the citizens in the communities in question could attest to way more incidents.)
I feel Dorner is completely justified in his actions in an effort to bring awareness to the department's corrupt actions.
If the department had done their job in investigating his claims this would have never happened. Hopefully the DOJ will investigate these claims and finally turn the LAPD around for the better.

[Amanda]

What Chris did was wrong but I was not there to see if he is the lier or LAPD is. What I will say is those officers involved needs retraining. You don't shoot at a target unless you see it... You learn that during hunting classes, shooting ranges and I'm sure police training. With that said why did they randomly shoot at 2 unrelated targets? Just because they suspected it was him? A child could have been killed. How can a 71 yr old woman and her daughter look like a 200 something lb man? Again know your target... Luckily no one was killed but 2 innocent women were shot. Lawsuit in the making. They sound trigger happy to me! So has it really changed? Also they said they didn't purposely burn the cabin? Well it was caught on a recording the police said burn that monther F-er etc. Again what he did was wrong but the actions of those officers were no better... Just my opinion. R.I.P to the lives lost and thanks for your service for those true by the book cops who don't abuse there badge. Prejudice in any way will never make this world any safer. Weather it was a cop that was killed or a civilian the actions of defence should be no different.

[Ryan Quirk]

So now that Chris Dorner is caught/dead. I guess the LAPD is either going to stop their re-investigation of his improper firing to cover up for their grainy officer's lies. Come on.. Give me a break... No officer is going to lie about seeing his supervisor assaulting a suspect. Especially when the officer knows it is a career ender move. So now the LAPD can put icing over this issue to make it go away. By not fully reinvestigating his claims. Having been a cop who was wrongfully terminated for another cops illegal action that had nothing to do with me. I see this department going down this road. I would be completely surprised, no amazed to see that everyone involved with this initial cover up be charged with murder. (not known Cal. Law) . Their actions under vicarious liability in my opinion are in direct relationship to the other good officers being killed. Thus the two paper delivery ladies should sue the city, LAPD, and each person on Chris Dorner's termination board for their involvement in his actions which resulted in the trigger happy/scared officers shooting at them without having first identifying their target. Let's just thank god no officers at the Grammy's thought LLCoolJ was Dorner. Having been a police officer I am very pro cop. But because of the actions I have seen and personally experienced of having bad/criminal officers attempt to cover up their wrong doings by focusing their action or placing blame on good cops...I really don't believe the LAPD will fully reinvestigate Dorner's termination. They just want it to go away. Prove me wrong. Chief you say you want your department to be transparent, prove it. Release the whole internal investigation file to include all the notes by everyone involved, the minutes of his hearings, the statements of the officers involved to including his training officer whom he accused of wrong doing. And let's she if her statements meets the smell test. Chief, your a cop long enough to know when someone is B.S.ing you. Especially a cover up. You know as well as I do that there can be wrong doing even if you can't full prove it. Come on, we deal with that as cops daily. Don't let this type of incident happen again. Because it could, if good cops are being railroaded have no one to listen to them. The possibilities are there. Just my opinion. Smells like a duck......thanks for this opportunity to state my thoughts. Let's see what happens..Ryan

[Darf]

You should post pics of your guys burning down that house. I know that you got em...someone has them...

[Darf]

Should change the badges.

To Pretend and Slander

[Judith Liebowitz]

The shooting of two innocent women delivering newspapers by the LAPD has to be one of the most disgusting acts I have heard of by an urban police department --- but of course, as with all things in Southern California, it is being suppressed by your department and the local media who have either agreed to do so due to LAPD pressure, or because there really is simply no longer any justice under the Constitution of the United States, minimal Christian values, or basic human decency left amongst those who should be our "most trusted". But, the public's right to know aside, it seems that we all must simply expect to live with unjustified shootings of unarmed civilians, be it in the back, while an officer is drunk and off-duty, or when the police simply decide their own protection trumps all law and proper procedure. I wonder if even one of you ever goes home, looks him- or herself in the mirror, and thinks about the Ten Commandments. Because if that is "too much to ask", then may I respectfully ask that you resign and take your hatreds and paranoia of the public you serve elsewhere.

[Human]

If you have not yet read Christopher Dorner's MANIFESTO PLEASE DO! This is a very insightful manifesto in which he asks reporters to do several things in order for him to clear his name. Unfortunately he is not here to defend him self, but he at least made sure he left us this viable piece of information in his facebook page. Dorner left us homework and part of it was to seek the reports he made during his service with the LAPD. Media, Beck, Community, let us do our job and let’s try to understand why an extremely intelligent man (that was Dorner) would take such drastic measures.

I have NOTHING against any particular LAPD officer and please know I do not support nor condone the violence by Christopher Dorner or the LAPD (with the shooting of the 2 wrong vehicles) this past couple of weeks. Nonetheless, the Police had NO RIGHT to burn down that cabin. What happened to what each of them stands for "To Serve and Protect?” Why didn’t they send in a swat team, a negotiator, someone to speak with him? Why didn't they announce it in the megaphones to surrender and he would not be harmed?

Christopher Dorner is a key piece in dismantling the corruptness of some (not all) cops. Most importantly, I think that with his manifesto, he can be a very valuable piece in dismantling the corruptness of the LAPD Organization as a whole. Still, it gave Dorner NO RIGHT to seek vengeance, but I fully understand his frustrations.

Dorner is a perfect example of being a victim of severe depression. I believe he is a product created by the corruptness within the LAPD Organization. He perhaps felt that he paid his dues, he served and protected the communities as an LAPD Officer with integrity, and in return the organization turn their back on him and let him down. I consider myself neutral when analyzing this case, as I know that the problem is the LAPD structure NOT ALL officers. It is important to reiterate that not ALL officers are corrupt, but unfortunately, by the misconduct of some officers, we view all officers as the enemy when there is actually a huge percentage that go the work each putting their life on the line.

PS: When we vilify someone as Monster, we detach the humanity of that person, which makes it easier for someone to not oppose a killing of a monster. Nonetheless, that monster (in this case Dorner) was never a monster. He was a deceased human being who never got the opportunity to be heard, time and time again.

[Jon R]

Perhaps teresa evans kicked that mans head behind the bushes(stated location)? That could be why nobody saw it. My late brother was schizophrenic so I know it can make communication difficult. You need to have patience with the disease. You can not simply beat some sense into them. They can not be "taught" to be "normal".

All mental illness is tough, this one is especially nasty for the entire family.

[JCP]

Dorner was a buffoon whose brain size did not fit the body size. If he is your champion then perhaps you are designed just like him.