LAPD Had Undercover Cops in Occupy Camp

Los Angeles - Undercover Los Angeles Police Department detectives infiltrated the Occupy L.A. encampment several weeks prior to Wednesday's pre-dawn raid, someone with knowledge of the plan told City News Service.

Nearly a dozen undercover detectives began joining the camp about two weeks ago in order to gather intelligence on protesters' plans for resisting eviction, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak about the matter.

The undercover officers gathered information on specific demonstrators who might have posed a potential threat.

The undercover work yielded information that some protesters were preparing bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons in advance of an expected eviction by the LAPD, none of which were used during the largely non-violent eviction.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith declined to comment on the use of undercover detectives in the raid, saying the department never discusses undercover operations.

However, Smith said it is very important that the department had an understanding of the protesters before the raid. Even with intelligence, though, "we never know how it's going to go," Smith said.

"There's always a question mark. It could be that suddenly there's counter-demonstrators causing problems in an otherwise peaceful crowd," he said. "There was also a live (ustream.tv) feed, which means the camp was accessible to everyone."

Occupy L.A. protester Mario Brito, who has been an outspoken member of the Occupy movement, said he was not surprised by the revelation, but said it was "tantamount to 1950s McCarthyism."

"For all the talk of the LAPD being a new LAPD, this smacks of politically motivated policing," Brito said.

He said undercover officers are appropriate for criminal activity like gangs, drug smuggling and prostitution.

"What was the crime here other than violating a curfew ordinance?" Brito said. "You don't need undercovers to police that."

The LAPD has been widely credited for conducting a largely nonviolent operation that involved about 1,400 officers.

Despite remaining quiet about using undercover cops, the department openly discussed its use of an unconventional tactical plan to evict protesters with Occupy L.A. Hundreds of police officers formed a so-called skirmish line around City Hall Park, while several hundred others emerged in a surprise raid from inside City Hall, a tactic being described as a "Trojan Horse" move.

The officers immediately moved to assigned positions in order to isolate the hundreds of protesters gathered on the south lawn into smaller groups.

"Dividing the south lawn into different segments was very useful because it prevented groups of people from gathering into one large, more dangerous group," Smith said.