LOS ANGELES : Audit Finds Many LAPD Procedures Are Still Lax

Concluding a two-year series of audits on Los Angeles Police Department financial management, the city controller’s office reported this week that some improvements have been made but that changes are still needed to assure that the department protects its assets.

The LAPD, with a $1-billion annual budget, “has in the past assigned a low priority to financial management controls,” the controller’s report said.

Among the findings of the audits were the theft of $7,400 by a police lieutenant from department cash reserves; a property storage room with lax security, despite holdings of millions of dollars in cash, artwork and narcotics; improper approvals for overtime payments to officers; lax controls on citation booklets and failure to obtain reimbursement from the state and other police agencies for special police training.

Although many of those problems have been corrected, Controller Rick Tuttle’s report expressed continuing concern over “access to secured areas where evidence for criminal cases is maintained.” Tuttle also said the Police Department has not reviewed traffic citation books. And it also has failed to make timely billings to other departments that receive training from LAPD officers or to the state for reimbursement for advanced police training sessions.