http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-inglewood-probe13-2009mar13,0,1720065.story

Justice Department investigating Inglewood police shootings
By Ari B. Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The Inglewood Police Department announced today that the Department of Justice is investigating the agency in the wake of several officer-involved shootings of unarmed suspects and other incidents.

According to the department's website, the investigation would include "past procedures and tactics used by Inglewood police officers involving use of force." It's the third ongoing investigation into the department. Already, the state attorney general and L.A. Sheriff's Office of Independent Review is probing the department's tactics.

The Justice Department told the city in March that it was beginning an investigation, and Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said she would cooperate fully, the website said. Officials at the Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Times investigation found that over the last six years, Inglewood police officers have repeatedly resorted to physical or deadly force against suspects who were unarmed or accused of minor offenses.

In the span of four months last year, Inglewood officers shot and killed four people, three of them unarmed. The Times' review of court documents, law enforcement records and interviews shows that the problem is not new.

Five of the 11 people shot and killed by Inglewood police since 2003 were unarmed. They include a man who fled when officers tried to stop him for riding his bicycle on a sidewalk. An officer said he fired when the man reached for a bulge near his waist, which turned out to be a rolled-up T-shirt.

Several officers -- including a training sergeant -- have complained about the department's policy on when to shoot and about a lack of training.

Two Inglewood officers were involved in using Tasers on unarmed suspects four times in five weeks -- including on one man's genitals -- prompting defense attorneys to call them the "Taser Twins."