LAPD Chief Beck gets second 5-year term

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Police Commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday to give LAPD Chief Charlie Beck a second five-year term.

Beck said he was honored and humbled, and added the process had been more difficult than expected and brought many lessons. He said he would work on "ensuring we not only honor transparency in our speech but in our action."

Police commission President Steve Soboroff credited Beck for the elimination of a backlog involving the testing of rape evidence and for falling crime numbers.

The vote comes at a time when the LAPD is facing a handful of controversies, including allegations of misconduct and accusations that a report sent to the federal government omitted nearly 1,200 violent crimes.

The LAPD says the misclassifications were not intentional.

The lone dissenting vote came from senior commissioner Robert Saltzman, who said the LAPD needs more transparency. He accused the LAPD of providing less information than it did under a federal consent decree issued in response to the Rampart corruption scandal involving alleged abuses by officers in the late 1990s.

"The chief has fallen short of our expectations. In my view, the most important of these problem areas are ensuring fairness and consistency in discipline and transparency and respect for civilian oversight," Saltzman said.

The other police commissioners stressed to Beck that he must restore trust in the LAPD, but stressed the department is moving in the right direction.

"The positives far outweigh the negatives," Soboroff said.

Mayor Eric Garcetti called the confirmation a "thorough" process over the past few months.

"The result will be an even stronger department than the one that preceded it," Garcetti said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.