Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton will improve the structure and morale of the Los Angeles Police Department if he empowers managers at the level of captain and above and works cooperatively with the police union, according to a report released Dec. 20 by researchers at UCLA and USC.

The department also will improve if the officers and the public view the department as an open and dynamic system that works with other agencies and is always undergoing change; it is not an autonomous system, the study concludes.

In addition, the report finds the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police union, should be included in the decision-making process and should be an important ally if change is to occur in the department.

“For too long the LAPD has operated like an independent agency run from the chief’s office,� said Wellford Wilms, a UCLA professor and co-director of the research team. “But change of the magnitude confronting the LAPD today cannot be led by a chief alone. It must also come from middle of the organization and the union. Ultimately Los Angeles citizens will have to embrace the department if its police powers are to be seen as legitimate.�

The researchers’ report, “To Protect and To Serve … and To Listen� is based on data collected between 1994 and 2000. The study began as a way to assess how the LAPD was coping with a flood of changes prompted by the beating of Rodney King. The report is the most detailed review of the department during that period.

The report includes highlights from three surveys of LAPD employees conducted during the survey period, observations from more than 100 ride-alongs, and interviews with employees up and down the chain of command — from patrol officers and clerks to police chiefs Bernard Parks, Bayan Lewis and Willie Williams. Researchers were given access to all aspects of the department’s operations.

Among the key findings of the report are:
· Officers’ sense of altruism, quality of work life at the division level, inclusiveness and support for community policing are factors that influence better performance.
· Factors that reduce performance include feelings of abandonment by politicians, media and community; low ratings to former Chief Bernard Parks’ leadership; the discipline system; fear of punishment; and eroding morale and job satisfaction.

Key report conclusions include:
· The LAPD is an open system, not autonomous.
· The police chief should not rely exclusively on control to manage employees; it reduces their opportunities to exercise their own initiative and to participate in decision-making.
· The LAPD’s work systems should be redesigned to include community policing as a means of producing a change in the department’s culture.
· The department should rebuild confidence in its disciplinary system by redesigning the citizen complaint process.

The full report can be found at www.gseis.ucla.edu/academics/research/lapd.html.