March 9, 2007

Dear OJB members,

It is time for this organization to hold the Department accountable for the millions of dollars it loses each year on employee vs. employee lawsuits.  The many lawsuits filed by subordinates against their supervisors and commanding officers within the LAPD have cost the city millions of dollars each year, not to mention the stress and hardship suffered by the victims, some of whom are OJB members.

The violators are rarely (if ever) punished, and are often rewarded with promotion or reassignment to a coveted position.  This happens because the Chief mostly relies on the advice of his Assistant Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs before promotions take place.  He does not consider the advice of the officers that work for the person being promoted and is most impacted.

It is time for OJB members to turn their pain and anger into positive action.  You can start by doing an honest and objective written evaluation of your commanding officers.  The data from the evaluations could then be published in the OJB News Letter, and if necessary, used to support (or refute) future lawsuits against the concerned commanding officer.

We can no longer standby and watch employees with a history of unfairness against minority officers promote to command officer positions.   We cannot allow those who operate with unethical behavior on this department to go unchallenged.

Please take time to respond with any information or concerns that you may have about any command staff officer for whom you have worked over the recent past, or any of the potential candidates on the current captain’s list (see list attached).  I don’t think the Chief of Police wants to promote an unethical candidate.  So if you have information that the Chief should know, provide it to me and I will be more than happy to pass the information on to him.  We cannot complain after an unethical candidate is promoted, if we fail to provide the Chief with information that he should know before the promotion takes place.  This is your time to be heard and to stop future harassment! If you would rather provide the information personally, you may contact me at (310) 608-2599.  You may also send the letter to the physical address or email to ojbfoundation@yahoo.com. 

Sergeant II Ronnie Cato
President