School Cop Reassigned; Report Due This Month

Los Angeles School Police Officer John Taylor, who was under investigation for using excessive force against students and adults during a September incident in Pacific Palisades, has been reassigned to ‘a computer-training job,’ according to Lieutenant Tim Anderson, the department’s public information officer. Taylor was reassigned from patrolling public schools here ‘over a month ago,’ Anderson told the Palisadian-Post. The Pacific Palisades Community Council passed a resolution in late October calling on School Police Chief Lawrence Mannion to consider reassigning Officer John Taylor based upon parent and community concerns. This week, the department would not say if the decision to reassign the officer was the direct result of that resolution. Anderson said that the chief ‘received the letter [from the council] and took it under advisement.’ He also said that the department has a new computer system, and many officers are expected to learn that system. ‘I am glad that he has been temporarily reassigned,’ said Janet Turner, the Community Council member who wrote the original resolution. ‘I hope [our] letter was one more element that was used in coming to this decision.’ The Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District also examined the Chief’s earlier decision not to reassign the officer in two closed-session meetings. The details of those meetings are not available to the public. The School Police provide security for more than 1,000 schools and administrative offices within LAUSD, which has oversight over the department. In previous interviews with the Post, Lt. Anderson said the Chief chose not to reassign the officer based upon the ‘totality of circumstances.’ The internal investigation examining Taylor’s actions is expected to be complete in mid-January, according the department. It began after a violent confrontation between the officer and local students and adults on September 19 outside the CVS loading dock. Two teenagers were arrested for disobedience to a police officer and using ‘offensive words most likely to cause an immediate and violent reaction.’ Those two teenagers as well as several other student and adult bystanders were sprayed with pepper spray. The department’s internal investigators contacted about 40 witnesses, Anderson said. Taylor’s previous record of excessive force was also a cause of concern among community members, who requested that he be reassigned pending the outcome of the department’s internal investigation. A superior officer blocked the officer’s promotion in 2002 based upon ‘a series of excessive-force incidents.’ Taylor has been the subject of three previous internal investigations for excessive-force complaints. It is unknown whether he has been found responsible or disciplined by any previous investigation. The Post’s requests for the disciplinary record of the officer were rejected by LAUSD. A former high-ranking official within the L.A. School Police Department said that the City Attorney’s office complained to the department that Taylor’s police reports lacked the ‘elements of a crime’ necessary to bring charges against alleged perpetrators and have cited subjects ‘without cause and with exaggerated circumstances.’ The officer currently faces two lawsuits charging him with an excessive use of force while he was a school policeman at Hamilton High School and Crenshaw High School. One of those lawsuits was dismissed and is currently on appeal. The family of a Paul Revere Middle School student is expected to file a lawsuit against the officer based upon the September 19 incident. According to district records, LAUSD has spent more than $152,000 in legal expenses for the two existing lawsuits in which Taylor is a defendant. The School Police could not say exactly when the officer was reassigned from patrolling public schools in Pacific Palisades. The Post tried to reach the department’s spokesperson for the past three weeks to ascertain the status of the officer’s assignment, but was not given an interview until this week. When the internal investigation is completed, the Chief will decide to discipline or not discipline the officer based upon the investigation’s findings. Reporting by Staff Writer Max Taves. To contact, e-mail: reporter@palipost.com