"Concerns about LAPD’s intelligence gathering practices"

Mayor Tom Bradley talks to reporter Stan Chambers about the LAPD’s intelligence gathering practices. He emphasizes the need to protect the Department’s right to gather information while protecting the constitutional rights of individuals. In 1976, Bradley asked the Police Commission to examine the card file maintained by the Public Disorder and Intelligence Section, which led to the destruction of over two million cards created on individuals and organizations. Bradley hopes the Department, through the Police Commission, will set permanent guidelines and policies that will provide flexibility for the officers to protect public interests while protecting the rights of individuals. Chief of Police, Darryl Gates, appears at a meeting of a City Council committee to address the Department’s intelligence gathering practices. Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky raises concerns about intelligence gathering by law enforcement, and speaks on alleged abuses where individuals and organizations were reported on for things outside the scope of the initial investigation. Yaroslavsky also talks about the publication of the roll call of City Council votes and comments public officials have made in private meetings. Gates notes that the police department has always been willing to come to the City Council to talk about any matter of concern, and he is more than happy to talk about these allegations in an executive session of the committee.