Police officers now have to report excessive force by their peers, this is according to the new California state law. A Los Angeles police commissioner this past summer was asked by department commanders how many times this took place in the last five years.

The Answer was Five

Dale Bonner said the answer he got back, in an email obtained by The Times through a public records request, was five. With further digging, the LAPD officials said the number was actually 2. That was when The Times asked for a synopsis of the five incidents.

Unappalling Low Documented Instances

There were only two instances in which an officer filed an unauthorized force complaint against another officer. This was amid thousands of force complaints in fillings by the public since 2015. Both were in 2016.


In one instance, an officer reported seeing another yank a handcuffed detainee backward off a bench to the floor. This, in turn, leading to the offending officer receiving a 10-day suspension and demotion. In the other situation, an officer was in a vehicle with two supervisors. Then one activated a personal stun gun. The other pulled out a handgun. The first supervisor received a 12-day suspension. The second supervisor received a 22-day suspension.

2,200 Unauthorized Force Complaints Against
Police Officers

The Los Angeles Police Department got more than 2,200 unauthorized force complaints against officers. This occurred from 2017 to 2019. According to department records, not a single one sent in by a fellow officer.

In 2020, So Far no Recorded Cases of Police Officers Filing Excessive Complaints Against Their Peers

There has been a public filing of more than 50 excessive force complaints about their treatment by officers at massive protests in the city this past summer. Yet there has also not been any recordings of cases of officers filing excessive complaints so far this year.