The L.A. Police Department's investigation into officers' excessive use of force at MacArthur Park on May 1 is a "constructive step toward addressing the root causes of improper use of force," the ACLU/SC said in a statement today. The long-awaited report was delivered to the L.A. Police Commission five months after officers beat and fired rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. It included some shocking admissions:

- Officers and supervisors believed they were free to use batons and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters who were not moving quickly enough.

- LAPD units have developed their own use-of-force training, without central oversight over what is taught.

"If the Department fails to respond to these systemic problems, then it has slept through another wake-up call," ACLU/SC staff attorney Peter Bibring told the commissioners and dozens of victims of May 1 at City Hall.

The ACLU/SC and the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olsen have discovered urgent new information about the extent of forcible drugging of immigrants by the Department of Homeland Security and the policies that govern it. The information is detailed in legal papers being filed Tuesday, October 9, that seek an immediate stop to the government's program of drugging immigrants with powerful anti-psychotic medicine against their will and without proper medical oversight.

The government now admits it routinely gives powerful anti-psychotic drugs to immigrants before deportation. In many cases these detainees have no preexisting psychiatric conditions, and the drugs are administered was prescribed by low-level medical personnel and without a court order.

In answers submitted to Sen. Joe Lieberman before her confirmation hearing as chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept. 12, Julie Myers admitted that 56 detainees 'received psychotropic medications during the removal process' during the seven-month period from October 2006 until April 2007. More than half - 33 - were forcibly drugged despite having no preexisting psychiatric condition.

Myers did not provide data for the use of psychotropic medications before October 2006, but based on more general data that she provided, the ACLU infers that hundreds of unauthorized druggings have taken place since 2003. During that time, DHS ordered 1,073 'medical escorts,' often low-level medical personnel prepared to forcibly drug immigrants during deportation. Although earlier government statements gave the impression that such druggings were extremely rare, the newly-released numbers indicate that the practice is routine and widespread.

Myers also referred to a new ICE policy that claims to require a court order before forcibly drugging detainees during deportation. Court documents show that the policy was adopted two days after the ACLU of Southern California and the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olsen filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two immigrants, Raymond Soeoth and Amadou Diouf, who were drugged against their will and without proper medical oversight.

In her answers to questions before her confirmation hearing, Myers stated, 'I am aware of, and deeply concerned about reports that past practices may not have conformed to ICE detention standards.' Myers was confirmed Sept. 26.

However, the new policy does not describe what court would order the druggings, whether detainees would be able to challenge the order, or what the requirements for obtaining a court order are. The policy also contains an exception for 'emergency' druggings that would not require a court order, and the government has claimed that many drugging incidents, such as those involving both Diouf and Soeoth, were 'emergencies.' Nor did the government give any indication that its new policy was actually being implemented in the field.

These statistics are the first glimpse at a largely unknown program of drugging detainees that has gone on for years with no oversight. Previously the government had admitted only that they forcibly injected immigrants with powerful drugs 'as a last resort' in order to render them less 'agitated' for deportation. Yet detention standards from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) state that detainees may not be forcibly medicated if they are not mentally ill, simply for 'staff convenience.'

In light of the new information, the October 9 filing asks U.S. District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter to reconsider his earlier decision to postpone briefing on the ACLU/SC and Munger, Tolles & Olsen's request for a preliminary injunction to stop the forced drugging program.

The following statement by ACLU of Southern California staff attorney Peter Bibring is in response to the L.A. Police Department's investigation into excessive use of force at MacArthur Park on May 1. The results of the investigation were presented at a special meeting of the L.A. Police Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 9:

The Los Angeles Police Department's report on officers' actions against peaceful demonstrators at MacArthur Park on May 1 is a constructive step toward addressing the root causes of improper use of force on that day.

The Department identified and took responsibility for a set of clear failures in command and control, tactics, and training. Among its significant findings, the report noted that units within LAPD have developed their own use-of-force training, without central oversight over what is taught. The ACLU/SC hopes the new Incident Management and Training Bureau set up in response to the May 1 incident will improve and standardize training across the Department, so that what is promised in City Hall is practiced on the streets.

Today's report contained a startling finding: it revealed that officers and supervisors believed they were free to use their batons and rubber bullets if peaceful protesters failed to respond to dispersal orders quickly enough. Knowledge that this is wrong is basic use of force policy - it is the first thing an officer should learn and the last thing he or she should forget. It is policing 101.

The report's recommendations, though significant, do not adequately address the culture of excessive use of force in the Department. If the Department fails to respond to these systemic problems, then it has slept through another wake-up call. The Department cannot, once again, look past the conditions that are pushing officers to ignore their training and use force that they should know is inappropriate. Instead, the Commission must seize this opportunity to address those issues.

The Consent Decree adopted after the Rampart scandal implements significant reforms, and this Commission can voluntarily adopt some of its best practices, including heightened requirements on eligibility, supervision, and length of assignment for officers in the specialized Metro unit. Assignment rotation, a common practice in other departments, should also be implemented Department-wide, and would help reduce an insular culture within units, combat the Code of Silence, and limit pressure for officers to forget what they are told in training when they hit the streets. The events of May 1 shocked this city. Do not miss the moment for real reform.