http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-swat22mar22,1,5250110.storyThe action seeks to overturn new standards that were partly intended to open the unit to female officers.
By Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 22, 2008
The union representing the Los Angeles Police Department's 9,300 rank-and-file officers filed an unfair labor practices claim Friday that seeks to overturn recent changes in the SWAT team's rigorous selection process -- changes that were partly intended to open the elite unit to female officers.
The claim is the latest challenge to Chief William J. Bratton's efforts to expand the SWAT selection process.
Last week The Times obtained a year-old confidential report from a panel that recommended that the department make the Special Weapons and Tactics Team more accessible to women. No woman has succeeded in passing SWAT's grueling physical test since its formation in 1971.
The advisory panel was formed by Bratton to conduct a sweeping review of SWAT after a chaotic 2005 operation in Watts, when officers inadvertently killed a 19-month-old girl during a shootout with her deranged father -- the only time SWAT has killed a hostage.
In the wake of the panel's advice, the Los Angeles Police Protective League alleges that the department unilaterally changed the SWAT team selection process on Feb. 1 without consulting with the union as is required by city law.
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