Police transparency and accountability with communities.
Tasks (steps 1 - 5)
- Select a meeting date to attend virtually.
The Los Angeles Police Commission (herein referred to as "LA Police Commission") holds virtual meetings every Tuesday at 9:30 AM.
Go to https://www.lapdonline.org/police-commission/
Scroll to the "Meeting Agenda" section to see the agenda for the next available meeting.
The Zoom link to the meetings is here:
https://lapd.zoom.us/s/289225944
Webinar ID: 289-225-944
Students can find additional information here (I omitted the date to reduce confusion):
Police Commission Info.jpg
Information is also posted on the LA Police Commission Twitter page here:
You can see what an agenda looks like on the Twitter page here:
- Download agendas and any other materials related to the meeting.
Again, using the link: https://www.lapdonline.org/police-commission/, scroll down to the "Meeting Agenda" section to view and download the agenda for the next available meeting.
Check to see if there are additional amended agendas after the meeting (approximately a week after)
- Reread the assignment before the meeting and take notes during the meeting.
Reviewing the material before the meeting will help you focus on specific details during the session.
The length of each meeting can vary; some are shorter, while others are longer, depending on the agenda items. Try to stay for at least an hour. Some meetings are more straightforward, so I cannot predict the length of your specific meeting.
- Summarize the meeting topics and answer questions.
The first part of this assignment will require students to summarize the main two or three topics discussed in depth. For instance, when looking at the agenda and your notes, you will notice if one or two items were discussed in detail or more often than others.
Use one or two short paragraphs to summarize the main topics.
The second part of this assignment will require you to answer the following questions:
What is the Los Angeles Police Commission?
What is the LA Police Commission's relationship with the LAPD?
What does the LA Police Commission do? For example, does the Commission advise, finance, support, or set rules for the LAPD?
Where does the Commission get its authority? For instance, law enforcement's authority in Los Angeles ultimately comes from the State Constitution[1]
Who makes up the Board of the current Commission? Why would the makeup of the Board be important?
The third part of the assignment is observational. This section relates to the tone and personal observations of the meeting.
What was the overall tone of the meeting? For example, did you think the citizens were respectful? Was the Commission Board members respectful or distracted?
What did you think about the meeting? What surprised you, either positively or negatively?