Photo by Pang Keyang The Los Angeles County Police Department keeps a list of more than 300 officers with a history of dishonesty and misconduct. The secrecy known as the "Brady List" is tightly controlled.

Pang Keyang Los Angeles reports

The Los Angeles Justice Building is the home of the Los Angeles County Police Department and the Prosecutor's Office. Photo by Pang Keyang

The Los Angeles County Police Department maintains a list of more than 300 officers with a history of dishonesty and misconduct. The secrecy known as the "Brady list" is tightly controlled. Only a handful of high-ranking officers in the police department can see it, and not even the Los Angeles County Attorney General can pass it.

The "Brady List" is named after a landmark 1963 Supreme Court decision. The court required the prosecution to present all evidence favorable to the defendant before trial. Police officers are generally witnesses in criminal cases. However, if a police officer has committed dishonesty or irregularities, their credibility will be questioned if they testify in court. Therefore, some police departments in the United States have established a "Brady List", and police officers who have committed misconduct will be listed on the "Brady List".

In the Los Angeles County Police Department corruption case that shocked the United States, when the FBI investigated prisoner abuse by Los Angeles County police officers, they found that the county jail had used excessive force and covered up crimes for many years. After this investigation, more than 20 police officers, including former police chief Lee Baca, were found guilty.

Interim Chief John Scott, who took over the police department, compiled a "Brady List" in 2014 to sort out officers who behaved inappropriately in the police department. At the same time, it is possible to track those police officers who have a history of breach of trust and violations, because their credibility in testifying in court will be affected.

Over time, the department notified hundreds of officers on the Brady List and provided them with the opportunity to appeal and correct their information. It is understood that the listed officers committed theft, domestic violence, excessive use of force, obstructing investigations, accepting bribes and other violations.

The mysterious "Brady List" has always been the focus of media attention. The Los Angeles Times reviewed another related version of the "Brady List" in 2014 and searched court documents and case indictments to learn more about the police. How do players get on the "Brady List"? Until 2018, the Los Angeles Times gradually released more information about the list.

The "Los Angeles Times" cited a series of cases on the "Brady List", including police officers tipping suspected drug dealers, endangering the lives of colleagues and undercover informants; police officers pepper-spraying an elderly man and then making a false report. Proving that his arrest was justified; the police officer stopped the female driver, exchanging words to avoid issuing a ticket, etc. There have also been convictions for filing false reports, domestic violence, etc. In these cases, prosecutors harshly criticized the officers' actions but declined to bring criminal charges against them.

In December 2014, McDonald was successfully elected and took over the turbulent Los Angeles County Police Department. He was dedicated to rebuilding and rectifying the police department. He stepped up efforts to develop the "Brady List" and punish police officers for violations. But he also agreed that some police officers improved in the years after making mistakes and could make up for their mistakes.

Yet as public scrutiny of police misconduct grows and demands for police accountability and transparency grow nationwide, MacDonald is trying to turn the "Brady List" over to the county attorney's office. Prosecutors are required by law to inform criminal defendants during the course of the case about the credibility of the witness police officer's testimony.

McDonald's action was met with severe protests from the police union, which said disclosing the list would violate officers' privacy rights, unnecessarily harm their careers, and jeopardize the department's completed criminal investigations and lawsuits. At the same time, the union believes that this list is seriously flawed and unfair.

The police union eventually sued McDonald. The Lower Court ruled that the list was confidential except for police officers required to testify in criminal proceedings. A California appeals court ruled that the Los Angeles County Police Department cannot disclose the list to prosecutors because they are potential witnesses in pending criminal cases.

The Los Angeles Times later revealed that the list was flawed. In the 2014 list, two police officers were listed for alleged dishonesty. Investigations failed to substantiate their accusations of dishonesty, and a third officer successfully appealed.It is unclear how many names were removed or added to the list and whether previously listed names are still on the list.

There are 277 police officers on the 2014 version of the "Brady List", accounting for 3% of the department's police officers, two-thirds of whom are still working in the department. The department has fired some people, but others have appealed and been returned to work.

California has some of the strictest police misconduct confidentiality laws in the United States. California is one of 22 states in the United States that does not allow the public to view police discipline records, and it is the only state that prevents prosecutors from accessing police files. In recent years, at least 22 California county police departments, including San Francisco and Sacramento , have begun submitting the names of problem officers to the prosecutor's office, but neither the Los Angeles City Police Department nor the Los Angeles County Police Department has started this initiative.

Los Angeles County Police Department officers have been identified as potential witnesses in more than 62,000 felony crimes since 2000, according to District Attorney's Office records. In many cases, officer misconduct can affect the credibility of their testimony in court.

Los Angeles County Attorney Jackie Lacey specifically changed her office policy so that police agencies can submit the names of problematic officers to her. But Lacey told the Los Angeles Times that she, too, was in a tough spot. Because more than 200 investigators working for her office are members of police unions that oppose the release of the list.

New Sheriff Alex Villanueva called the "Brady List" a "fake list" during the campaign and complained that the officers on the list were the result of retaliation from management. In this campaign, Villanueva also received strong support from police unions who opposed turning the Brady list over to prosecutors.

Therefore, as one of the few police department executives who have the power to decide on the "Brady List", how will Villanueva deal with this hot potato? How he will use his grassroots position to protect the lower-level police officers while playing a leadership role in leading the police department to increase transparent law enforcement and accountability, everyone will wait and see!