A recent report on the Burbank Police Department's internal and use-of-force investigations found deficiencies in timeliness, evidence-gathering and spotting problems.
Released on Tuesday, the report — the first since the city hired the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review last year for continued departmental oversight — comes after a tumultuous time for a department that is still reeling from excessive force allegations and officer-involved lawsuits, as well as a federal investigation into alleged officer misconduct.
Despite the deficiencies, authors of the report noted some improvements when compared to “below base line” cases from previous years.
“The consensus we found, generally speaking, was that the efforts by your police department were really an objective search for truth,” said Michael Gennaco, chief attorney for the review board, which primarily oversees the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. “That doesn't mean every investigation was perfect.”