Flashlight officer sues Bratton

John Hatfield contends that Chief William Bratton unduly influenced the LAPD Board of Rights that fired him. Hatfield is the officer who applied a flashlight to the head of auto theft suspect Stanley Miller after a 2004 foot chase in South L.A. and Compton. Based on what we saw on TV, other officers had Miller pretty much in custody while Hatfield bonked away.

Meanwhile: Strange post on the LAPD blog today. It describes the death in June of a man who was being transported by paramedics after being restrained by LAPD officers. Noi explanation for why it tops the department blog today.