By Eric W. Siddal
In a blistering commentary, former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks outlined George Gascón’s actions as an LAPD Command Officer and told the public, ” DA Candidate George Gascon is Not Who He Says He is.”
In support of his conclusion, Parks specifically cited one particular case that “horrified” him while he was serving as Chief of Police for LAPD: Gus Woods, a 56-year-old African American man was shot and killed by LAPD officers.
Parks recited that, contrary to the universal finding of all involved, then LAPD Commander George Gascón sided with the officer who killed Mr. Woods. “Gascon hid behind a flimsy defense, claiming that the officer was acting on his memories of a ten-year-old training session, which counseled officers that anyone with a knife within 21 feet represented a threat that would justify the use of deadly force. To this day the tape from this training has never been established as an officially approved LAPD training tape and is contrary to the LAPD use of force policy.”
Parks went on to write about Gascón: “The truth is that Gascón has a reputation for going easy on officers involved in disciplinary cases. During my time as Police Chief, it was widely known that officers, accused of misconduct, would routinely select George Gascon as a member of their disciplinary boards because they knew he had a reputation for leniency.”
Since Gascón purports to support “transparency” for law enforcement, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys calls on George Gascón to release his entire LAPD personnel file, as well as all findings and recommendations he made while serving on the Board of Rights. This exercise in transparency will help the residents of Los Angeles County know who the real George Gascón was while employed in the LAPD.
About the author: Eric W. Siddal is Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, the collective bargaining agent representing nearly 1,000 Deputy District Attorneys who work for the County of Los Angeles.
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