Melanie Lomax Approved for Police Commission

Attorney Melanie Lomax easily won City Council approval Friday for a seat on the five-member police commission, the civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department.

The council approved her nomination by Mayor Tom Bradley in an 11-1 vote. Only Councilman Hal Bernson voted against Lomax, but he did not offer any reason during the brief council debate.

At a committee hearing earlier this week, Bernson said he was concerned that Lomax’s “activist background” might indicate she will advocate actions that will “tie officers’ hands.”

“We know your background with the ACLU,” Bernson said.

Lomax corrected Bernson, explaining she had worked for the NAACP, not the American Civil Liberties Union.

Bernson was unswayed. “I can’t take a chance,” Bernson said, “on having anything that’s going to inhibit officers’ willingness . . . to support the law.”