US: LAPD criticized for event featuring ex-Mexican Mafia leader

[webfact]

LAPD criticized for event featuring ex-Mexican Mafia leader
By TAMI ABDOLLAH

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An ex-Mexican Mafia leader serving life in prison for murder was escorted by police to speak at a gathering of police chiefs and business leaders, prompting criticism from the mayor's office and a call for a probe from the head of the civilian oversight commission for the Los Angeles Police Department, which organized the event.

Steve Soboroff said the public was unnecessarily endangered Wednesday by having Rene "Boxer" Enriquez speak in a downtown Los Angeles building that required 23 elite LAPD officers to secure.

Participants were provided refreshments and a book about Enriquez's life and rise to power.

"If you step back and look, the perception is it's like 'meet a real-life Mexican Mafia informant and have some hors d'oeuvres and get a book,'" Soboroff said. "That's not the purpose of training ... those were the true judgment errors."

Soboroff said he has asked the LAPD's independent Inspector General Alex Bustamante to review the event.

"This was inappropriate and should have never happened," said Yusef Robb, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, on Thursday. "We expect a full accounting of why this occurred and we are going to make sure this sort of thing never happens again."

The roughly 90-minute meeting, first suggested by a chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization, provided valuable information on the growth and operations of a transnational criminal enterprise, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who heads the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau.

SWAT officers had to be in place six hours in advance to secure the area, according to Soboroff. He said the event could have instead been held in an already secure location such as a police station, the police academy or even Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Soboroff said the group of business executives could have been briefed afterward, but "in retrospect, I think it was a mistake to have them attend."

Linda Fisk, a spokeswoman for the Young Presidents' Organization, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Enriquez gave a PowerPoint presentation and spoke about how he was instrumental in building a transnational criminal enterprise and about the group's influence on tens of thousands of violent gang members, Downing said.

"This guy talked like he was a sophisticated CEO of a major corporation and even though he did that, we realized he's manipulative, deceptive and a violent criminal," Downing said.

Soboroff said the training may have been valuable but its location and who was allowed to attend was problematic.

It is "something we should take responsibility for and make sure that doesn't happen again," he said.

Downing said that in retrospect the event, which was held two floors below ground and didn't impact traffic or close streets, could have been held in a more secure offsite area to avoid potential disruptions.

Enriquez has previously talked to law enforcement officers, including personnel from federal agencies, 15 times or so over the years, Downing said.

Police chiefs from at least eight departments around the region attended the event on Wednesday along with detectives from LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division and others, Downing said.

Downing said other people might be brought out of prison for similar events. He declined to comment on whether he would restage the event Wednesday with Enriquez.

"I don't think we should be ... afraid," he said, noting that the event had been approved by the district attorney. "I think it helps us work smarter, I think it helps us look over the horizon to see what threats are coming (and) what we can do to build better strategies."

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman, said later Thursday that the district attorney's office had not approved the event, and "the LAPD is looking into the source of that inaccuracy."
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Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-01-30

[Tywais]

Sounds like a training seminar for future mafia leader hopefuls.

[zaphod reborn]

No matter how often they change police chiefs, LAPD will never get it right. Rodney King, OJ Simpson, the Rampart division, the LAPD CRASH unit - LAPD, corrupt and stupid to it's core.

[HeijoshinCool]

.

Steve Soboroff

Alex Bustamante

Yusef Robb

Eric Garcetti

Tami Abdollah

Michael Downing

Anyone who claims there is prejudice in hiring in America, you are F.O.S.

[A1Str8]

That is not a mafia leader. He's just a snitch.

[CMNightRider]

That is not a mafia leader. He's just a snitch.

He's a snitch?? You sound like a gang-banger. Enriquez is more like a police helper that came to his senses and denounced the Mexican Mafia. There was nothing stupid about having this guy as a guest speaker in front of the LAPD. Enriquez was the highest ranking Mexican Mafia member to ever debrief.

[timmyp]

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Steve Soboroff

Alex Bustamante

Yusef Robb

Eric Garcetti

Tami Abdollah

Michael Downing

Anyone who claims there is prejudice in hiring in America, you are F.O.S.

There is still heavy prejudice in hiring in corporate America. The public sector is doing better in bigger metropolitan areas, as you cite.

[CMNightRider]

Sounds like a training seminar for future mafia leader hopefuls.

What it sounds like, is a gang seminar for law enforcement concerning the threat the Mexican Mafia poses nation wide.