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Council adopts central audit repository, exempts LAPD confidential personnel reports
Summary
The council approved a policy to centralize past and future city audits in a repository for tracking and implementation, and accepted an amendment to exclude LAPD or Board of Police Commissioners reports that contain confidential personnel information.
The Los Angeles City Council on Dec. 7 voted to create a centralized repository for audits and special studies and to require semiannual reporting on audit implementation, but amended the measure to exclude confidential LAPD personnel reports from public posting.
Public commenter Leonard Shapiro urged stronger audit oversight and a permanent review mechanism, saying the city needed an "audit oversight committee just like the county of Los Angeles." He criticized long-standing gaps in management audits and urged follow-through.
Councilmember Mrs. Chick, who sponsored the motion to create the audit policy, emphasized the cost of studies that end up unimplemented: "We pay too much money to have studies done that sit on a shelf and never get implemented," she said. The council debated the sensitivity of some police studies and approved language to exempt LAPD and Board of Police Commissioners reports involving confidential personnel information to avoid violating charter or privacy rules.
The amended policy requires the city clerk (and relevant offices) to place specified audits and studies into an IT-generated depository accessible for oversight and requires reports on status every six months; the motion as amended passed on a roll call (13 ayes).
Councilmembers said the change is intended to improve transparency and tracking of recommendations while balancing personnel confidentiality for law-enforcement matters. The council directed staff to implement the repository and to provide the semiannual status reports.
Next steps: city staff will stand up the repository and begin providing periodic status reports; questions remain on scope and timing for full implementation.
