LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called Tuesday morning for a "rational discussion" of the issues raised during a deadly manhunt for a fired officer who outlined a revenge plot against law enforcement agents and their families.
Beck spoke about the Christopher Dorner investigation and the reward connected to the Southern California manhunt at a Tuesday morning news conference.
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Beck was joined at the news conference by an LAPD sergeant and captain identified in former officer Christopher Dorner's manifesto. The LAPD members were under protection during the manhunt for Dorner, who outlined plans to target law enforcement officials and their families as part of the revenge plot that ended with a shootout near Big Bear.
"We all sign up for some degree of risk," Beck, whose name also appeared in the Dorner document, said at the news conference. "Our families don't sign up for that. Our children don't sign up for that. These 50 families we protected -- think about their children."
The news conference came one week after the manhunt ended at a cabin in the Big Bear area. Dorner died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a shootout with San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies, according to investigators.
Beck on Tuesday addressed the reopening of the investigation -- a move he announced during the nearly week-long search -- into Dorner's 2008 firing. The fired officer was found to have falsely reported a fellow officer for excessive use of force.
Then Chief William Bratton dismissed Dorner based on a police panel's finding Dorner had made a false excessive force report against his training officer.
"I'm very confident the board was run very well, that it was done by the rules," said LAPD Captain Phil Tingirides, who headed the panel.
His wife, Sgt. Emada Tingirides, worked Harbor Division with Dorner and recalled him asking her if racism was behind the misconduct charge against him.
"I told him flat out, 'Christopher, the complaint process is a process,'" Emada Tingirides said.
Dorner's appeals were rejected by both a superior court and an appellate court.
Chief Beck appointed attorney Gerald Chaleff to make another review and report to the LAPD Office of the Inspector General -- the body has oversight of the department's internal disciplinary process -- before it is released to the public at a police commission meeting, Beck said. The findings will be the subject of public comment so "everyone can see the transparency with which we address this," Beck said.
"Nothing should be considered closed and done," Beck said. "It's about fairness, and doing the right things for the right reasons."
Beck did not provide an estimate on the timeline for the review, but said the investigation will require at least "several months."
Beck also addressed the $1 million reward offered for information in the manhunt. The agencies -- about 30 -- involved in the reward will provide a recommendation to Beck.
"Not only is this reward the largest in local law enforcement history, it's also the most complicated," Beck said. "It is my desire that the reward money be used. We generated countless tips because of it. It had its desired effect."
The search for Dorner began when he was identified as the suspect in the Feb. 3 shooting deaths in Irvine of Keith Lawrence and his fiancée Monica Quan. Four days later, Dorner shot and killed a Riverside police officer in what investigators described as an ambush at a stoplight during the manhunt.
Earlier Feb. 7, Dorner was involved in a shooting with LAPD officers in the Corona area. The officers were part of a security detail for one of the subjects mentioned in the Dorner manifesto.
Dorner's burned-out pickup was found near Big Bear later that morning. The search continued through the weekend before a stolen vehicle report led authorities to Dorner.
A San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy was killed outside the cabin from which Dorner engaged deputies in a shootout. The 33-year-old's charred remains were found after the cabin burned.
Beck opened Tuesday's news conference by reading the names of the four victims.