OIG's Report On Botched South LA Fireworks Detonation Presented To Board Of Police Commissioners
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - On Tuesday, eight months after the botched detonation of illegal fireworks in a South Los Angeles neighborhood, the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and LAPD Chief Michel Moore were presented with the findings of the Inspector General's investigation.
"It was a failure, a catastrophic failure of that vessel, that drew all of our attention to how could such a failure occur," Chief Moore said Tuesday.
On June 30, along east 27th Street, the LAPD bomb squad miscalculated the detonation of illegal homemade fireworks confiscated from a nearby home. The blast ripped open the containment vessel and left 17 residents and 10 first responders injured, damaged homes, businesses and cars.
The blast also displaced dozens of residents.
The Inspector General's report found officers ignored the warnings of one of their most experienced bomb technicians, who raised concerns that the weight of the fireworks was too powerful for the vessel to handle at once.
According to the IG's report, the bomb technician stated, "I have a bad feeling...this is not good...this is too big."
The technician told investigators that his colleagues and supervisor told him that he was wrong and that he "needed to relax and that it would be okay."
"Based on our review, it appears there was ultimately no change to the plan or course of action despite the concerns raised by the one bomb technician," John Garner, with the Office of Inspector General, said.
Investigators agreed with finding from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the bomb squad miscalculated the explosive power of the fireworks placed into the containment vessel and ended up overloading it.
"There was a lack of supervision of the bomb squad personnel at the scene of the incident," Garner said.
The IG's report provides a list of recommendations for the department and the bomb squad, including:
- Reviewing training procedures
- Requiring scales to weight material
- Updating their evacuation policy
- and adjusting work schedules to avoid long days for bomb personnel
The report also noted that there needs to be a culture change where technicians can share dissenting opinions, supervisors take an active role in planning and decision making and where precision and technical expertise are emphasized and reinforced on all bomb squad personnel.
Chief Moore also said today that the total containment vessel will no longer be used for detonations in residential areas.
"We find that changes have to occur at all levels of operation of this bomb squad...decisions that we now look at in hindsight and cannot justify."
In addition to systemic and structural changes, Moore said there will also be accountability and that he will soon determine whether any corrective or disciplinary action will be taken against the personnel involved for the decisions that were made.
