Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck joins Larry for AirTalk's monthly check-in.

This week, we address: 

• What’s Chief Beck’s response to the “after action report” about last year’s LAX shooting? Should LAXPD rely more on LAPD?
• And earlier this week, AirTalk heard about community concerns over regulating and policing prostitution at massage businesses. What’s the level of LAPD enforcement?
• Digital and civil rights organizations are challenging the LAPD’s widespread use of license plate readers, alleging privacy concerns. Now, the ACLU and EFF are suing, claiming the LAPD failed to provide information on the program requested under the California Public Records Act. How will the LAPD respond?
• Los Angeles has shut down more than 100 marijuana dispensaries since enforcement of new rules began, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Monday. How’s that process gone—and what’s next?

Below is an excerpt from the interview. To hear the conversation in its entirety, click on "Listen Now" icon to the left. 

Larry Mantle: Are there any conclusions in this review [of the LAX shooting] in which you disagree? 

Charlie Beck: The review is what it is. It looks at the different systems at the airport for notifying passengers in the terminal what's going on. Different systems at the airport need to develop to train its non-sworn employees on what to do in an incident and all that stuff is a positive outcome of this.

Whenever you do one of these regressive reviews of an incident, it is always easy to find things that could have been done to prevent that incident. I think we need to look at the broader picture and things that can be done to restore operations at the airport as quickly as possible — recognizing there are many, many unknowns when one of these incidents occur. You have to have enough time to discover the best you can on those unknowns. It's obvious now there was one shooter; it certainly wasn't obvious that day. I ask people to remember that when you look at these kinds of reports.

LM: Did LAPD have a difficult time communicating with other public safety agencies?

CB: That was an issue and is an issue. Broadband communication between entities is always an issue, and it's an issue the region struggles with. We have 47 different law enforcement agencies, dozens of fire departments. They all operate on different frequencies. We don't have any overriding frequency. We're in the process of developing one. But until that happens... this is going to continue to be an issue. Those are real issues. It takes commitment and funding to fix them.

None of those issues would have mitigated the initial couple of minutes of casualties.

LM: What role is the LAPD playing in closing pot shops? 

CB: The voters have spoken on this, and there are 120 or so individuals who will be allowed to operate marijuana dispensaries within the confines of the city of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, at this point, we have many more than that. The city attorney has come up with protocols that will help us to present cases that close those. We are working with LA local realtors to ensure that people understand that if you knowingly rent space to somebody that is operating an unlicensed marijuana dispensary that you could be financially liable for that. 

LM: The city is still giving business licenses to dispensaries that are opening, even though they're in violation of the ordinance that was passed. Does that make your job harder?

CB: The business licenses are not a license to operate; the business licenses are independent of the law. Some dispensaries try to display them to prove to people that they are legal, but that does not make them legal. All that does is give them a license to operate a legal business, and if they're not a legal business, then they're not a legal business.

LM: So there's no checking to determine what the nature of the business is or that it complies with city law?

CB: Not from the business tax side of it. The city attorney is working with the responsible parties on that to try to get some sense of it. But, people should know that just because you pay a business tax does not make you one of the 120 or so individuals that has been grandfathered in to run a dispensary. 

LM: The legislature is holding hearings on the current law that limit city's ability to regulate massage businesses. One of your vice commanders Captain Kelly Mulldorfer spoke at the most recent hearing was very critical of the law. I would assume that's your view of it too.

CB: It is proper and correct for cities to regulate businesses that have a high propensity to become illegal. Now, not all massage businesses are illegal — just like not all marijuana shops are not illegal. The ones that are cause a lot of harm to communities, so communities should be able to regulate those. In the somewhat distance past, we were able to more tightly regulate massage businesses, but state law shifted and took that ability away from municipalities.

LM: Currently under state law, do you investigate massage business; is that complaint driven from the public. How do you deal with them?

CB: It's complaint driven. In the past, you had to have a license from the city to practice as a masseuse in the city. That ability was taken away from us. So now, you have to be a licensed masseuse, but the requirements are very different. We would like to bring that back to the city's jurisdiction. That allows us to make sure these are legitimate businesses and not fronts for prostitution. 

LM: How do you respond to a complaint?

CB: It depends on what the complaint is. We do vice investigations; we do undercover investigations relative to massage parlors. We prosecute those that we find are in violation of state law. You're right it is a labor intensive investigation that requires people working in an undercover capacity and at times they can be quite lengthy, so you always have to have a balance.

Guest:

Charlie Beck, Chief of Los Angeles Police Department