Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore took public questions Tuesday night during a virtual town hall on the police’s detonation of illegal fireworks in South L.A. in June. The public event took place a day after a closed-door meeting with local residents.
Both meetings addressed a report by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that found LAPD bomb technicians had seriously underestimated the weight of the explosives, which led to an explosion on 27th Street that injured at least 17 people and damaged dozens of homes, businesses and cars. Some displaced residents are still living in temporary housing.
The bureau found that bomb technicians failed to even weigh the fireworks, opting to eyeball them instead.
According to Michael Hoffman, a special agent with ATF's Los Angeles office, the LAPD's containment vessel was designed to handle multiple detonations of 19 pounds of TNT equivalent at a time or a single detonation of 33 pounds of explosives before being returned to its manufacturer for analysis. LAPD officers loaded the truck with 39.85 pounds of explosives but believed the weight of the explosives to be only 16 pounds, said Hoffman. An error that could have been avoided had the technicians used a scale.
The LAPD will no longer use containment vehicles to detonate explosives in residential areas, according to Moore.
He also said major changes are coming to how officers are trained in detonating explosives after the blast. When asked why the names of the officers involved were redacted in the ATF report, Moore said, “I, as a chief, am governed by what personnel information I can and cannot release.”
Because the involved employees are “ involved in a personnel action,” Moore said he was forced to redact their names. Moore did say that the officers involved are no longer on the bomb squad.
City Councilmember Curren Price has been outspoken with his criticism of the explosion, saying in a statement, “The negligence at the hands of the LAPD showed zero regard for our community.”
Price also introduced a motion to the City Council to create a $5 million fund to help South L.A. residents recover from the blast.