LAPD officer arrested for holding room assault

By Richard Winton and Patrick McGreevy
Los Angeles Times
Dec. 08, 2006

A veteran Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested this morning for assaulting a handcuffed 16-year-old in a police holding room Tuesday.

Chief William J. Bratton said he decided to arrest Sean Joseph Meade, 41, after viewing a videotape from inside the station that captured part of the assault. Bratton said the attack was without any physical provocation.

"The video in essence depicts what the preliminary investigation and I believe to have been an assault on the juvenile that was totally unnecessary and was not in any color of law justified," Bratton said. "Based on what I and my command staff witnessed on the video, we felt the behavior was nothing that we as a department can tolerate or condone."

This is the third video to surface in the last month showing LAPD officers involved in alleged misconduct. But Bratton said unlike the other two, which are still under investigation, this one was so egregious that he ordered the officer arrested immediately.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa strongly condemned the officer's conduct after receiving a briefing by LAPD officials on the incident.

"I am deeply disturbed by the allegations," Villaraigosa said in a statement released by his office.

"I believe that abuse of authority in the use of force, especially when directed at a minor, is a grave violation of the trust we place in law enforcement and an insult to the values of the brave men and women of the LAPD who put their lives on the line to keep us safe," the mayor said.

Villaraigosa said the swift investigation and Bratton's order of an arrest were appropriate and a sign the system is working.

"I am confident that a full and thorough investigation is under way," Villaraigosa said. "If a crime was committed, I expect the case to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Meade allegedly assaulted the 16-year-old Latino male after booking him into the LAPD Central Station. The youth had been detained about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Chinatown on a curfew violation and placed in a juvenile holding cell. After hearing a disturbance between Meade and the youth in the holding room, another officer alerted the watch commander, who immediately began an investigation into the incident, Bratton said.

The video was captured by a camera that had been set up in a detective's office to catch vandalism made to chairs in the detective's office. That office is near the juvenile holding room, which has no door. Other officers in the station were unaware of the camera.

A portion of the assault was caught on the camera, Bratton said. He declined to describe what exactly was on the tape other than to say it was an assault. Sources said the tape shows Meade appearing to choke the youth, whose hands were handcuffed behind his back. The 16-year-old told investigators that he had been slammed into a wall.

The youth was examined at a hospital and has no apparent injuries, Bratton said. The youth was returned to Juvenile Hall and remains there because no parents or guardians have been located for him.

Bratton ordered that Meade be suspended immediately. The department has also been in contact with the FBI. Because of state laws and internal restrictions, the videotape will not be released, Bratton said.

Meade was arrested early today at his home in southeast Los Angeles County by LAPD Internal Affairs officers.

Meade is a 13-year veteran of the department who had recently transferred from the Newton Division, which covers south Los Angeles, to the Central Station, which patrols downtown.

Meade was booked on suspicion of assault under the color of authority, which means assault on someone who was under the control of an officer. The district attorney has not yet filed charges against Meade, who is being held at the sheriff's station in Pico Rivera.

The latest allegation of police brutality stung city officials, including Police Commission President John Mack, who are frustrated that it comes on the heels of a series of controversial incidents of police force.

"It is just mind-boggling that we have a situation where a 16-year-old Latino kid is arrested and handcuffed and sitting in a room posing no threat to anyone and this officer just comes in and beats the hell out of him," Mack said. "It's unacceptable."

The commission president, a onetime civil rights leader, said the panel will discuss the incident at its meeting Tuesday and has asked its inspector general, Andre Birotte, to monitor the department's investigation.

"I applaud the chief for taking quick decisive action," Mack said. "People like that officer don't need to be police officers. His behavior crossed the line. It was criminal."