Obama taps LAPD Inspector General for U.S. Attorney position

Dec. 24, 2009 | KPCC Wire Services

AP Photo/Nick Ut, File

This file photo taken Aug. 20, 2004, shows Los Angeles Police Commission inspector general Andre Birotte, right, and former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, during a news conference in Los Angeles. President Obama nominated Birotte Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2009, to be the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.

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Andre Birotte Jr, the inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. attorney for the district that covers Southern California, the White House announced today.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 43-year-old son of Haitian immigrants will be the first black U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, the nation's most populous district, with responsibility for all federal litigation in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Obama said in a statement that Birotte and the six other U.S. Attorney nominees announced today "have not only the legal experience and aptitude, but the commitment to public service to make exemplary United States Attorneys.

"I am honored to nominate them and look forward to their continued
service on behalf of the American people," the president said.

Birotte, who works for the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian panel that oversees the LAPD, has been Inspector General since 2003 and served as Assistant Inspector General from 2001 to 2003.

As Inspector General, he headed a staff of about 30 attorneys, auditors and former law enforcement officials that oversaw Police Department investigations.

From 1995 to 1999, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

Birotte, who graduated from Tufts University in 1987 and Pepperdine University School of Law 1991, started his legal career as a Deputy Public Defender in the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, where he worked from 1991 to 1995.

The nomination announced this morning did not come as a surprise; the Los Angeles Times reported in October that he likely would get the job. He was recommended to Obama by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., after being selected by a bipartisan advisory committee she established.

"Andre Birotte Jr. is an outstanding candidate with strong support in the local community,'' she said in a statement this morning." He is highly qualified and I believe would bring significant experience to the office... I was pleased to recommend him to the president."

Feinstein said that as inspector general of the LAPD, Birotte earned "the enthusiastic support of both the police officers he is charged with investigating and the community organizations that often raise concerns regarding police behavior.

"This ability to command respect from all sides bodes well for his nomination to lead federal law enforcement efforts in the communities of the Central District."

The nomination was also welcomed this morning by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the LAPD rank and file.

"We commend the president for an excellent selection,'' said union President Paul M. Weber. "As United States Attorney, Mr. Birotte will possess the understanding and recognition of the practices, issues and challenges facing local law enforcement."

Weber noted that there have been times when the Police Department has disagreed with him but said that "Mr. Birotte is a man of fairness and integrity who has been willing to review matters involving law enforcement with an objective eye.''

With headquarters in Los Angeles, the local U.S. Attorney's Office has an authorized staff of about 265 assistant U.S. attorneys, making it the nation's biggest after the District of Columbia Office, which handles both federal and non-federal crimes in Washington.

The office Birotte has been nominated to lead is divided into three litigating divisions — criminal, civil and tax — and a non-attorney administrative division. Its jurisdiction includes 35 cities with more than

100,000 residents each and covers more than 40,000 square miles, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Nevada and Arizona borders.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District says in a statement about itself that, "reflecting the size and diversity" of the area it covers, the cases it handles "are among the most significant in the country, arising from investigations that span the country and often reach overseas as well."


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