Leadership
Mark P. Smith, Inspector General
Mark Smith was appointed as the Inspector General (IG) of the Los Angeles Police Department in February 2018. He has spent his professional career overseeing and advising law enforcement agencies of varied size and geographic location. Mr. Smith’s initial experiences within the oversight field came as a legal intern and, subsequently, as a full-time Special Investigator with the Los Angeles Police Commission’s Office of Inspector General – the same office to which he has been honored to now return as IG.
Prior to his appointment as LAPD’s Inspector General, Mr. Smith was a Constitutional Policing Advisor with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD). Among other things, he was responsible for advising the Sheriff on issues related to accountability, adherence to best practices, policies, procedures, and operations; providing real-time monitoring, analysis, and advice to LASD investigators and executives on pending personnel investigations and disciplinary matters; and responding to critical incidents including in-custody deaths, deputy-involved shootings, and significant use of force incidents.
Before working with LASD, Mr. Smith was selected to be the first-ever Independent Police Auditor for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), where he developed the Office of the Independent Police Auditor (OIPA) from the ground up. OIPA was responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct; reviewing BART Police Department investigations; recommending changes to policy; developing an alternative dispute resolution process for complaints; and engaging in a robust program of community outreach.
Prior to his appointment at BART, Mr. Smith was the First Deputy Chief Administrator of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA). As First Deputy, Mr. Smith established internal policies to effectively and efficiently allow IPRA to meet its goals and obligations; supervised the day-to-day operations of the office; directed investigations into officer-involved shootings and complaints of excessive force; and represented IPRA at community events and meetings with other law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Smith has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law.
Django Sibley holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Liverpool and a graduate degree from the University of Southern California. In his undergraduate and graduate studies, Mr. Sibley conducted extensive research regarding police-community relations and crime control. Mr. Sibley began his professional career as a police officer in Hull, England, and later worked for the Los Angeles-based Police Assessment Resource Center. Upon joining the Office of the Inspector General in 2004, Mr. Sibley served as a Special Investigator assigned to the Use of Force Section, which oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation and adjudication of categorical use of force incidents. Mr. Sibley assumed the position of Assistant Inspector General in 2007 and currently heads the Use of Force Section. Mr. Sibley regularly represents the OIG by presenting at national conferences. He also provides training to other law enforcement and law enforcement-oversight professionals, and has been published in professional law enforcement publications.
Django Sibley,
Assistant Inspector General
Brian Buchner,
Assistant Inspector General
Brian Buchner is an Assistant Inspector General with the Los Angeles Police Commission’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) where he leads the office’s Audit Section. Brian has held several roles within the OIG, including as a Police Special Investigator in the Use of Force, Complaints, and the former Special Investigations and Compliance sections.
Prior to rejoining the OIG as an Assistant Inspector General, Brian served as the City Homelessness Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles where he oversaw more than $1 billion in funding and led the implementation of the city’s major homelessness initiatives. He has directed city-wide policing and homelessness policy for the Mayor of Los Angeles. Brian is also an expert in police oversight and policy, having worked for several oversight agencies, including the OIG, and advised local, state, national, and international government entities regarding police accountability. He has been invited to testify before numerous task forces and blue-ribbon commissions, including President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Brian has helped to establish civilian oversight agencies across the U.S. and has published numerous articles and reports on police accountability, including an assessment of policing across the University of California system. He also co-led and co-authored the nation’s most comprehensive national survey of police oversight agencies.
Brian teaches graduate-level criminal justice courses at the University of Southern California and previously taught at the undergraduate level at California State University, Los Angeles, including developing and teaching the nation’s first undergraduate course focused specifically on the oversight of policing. Brian serves on the board of Ride On, a nonprofit organization that provides equine-related therapeutic services for children and adults with disabilities. He previously served as a senior fellow with the NYU School of Law’s Policing Project, a senior fellow with the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and as an advisor to the American Law Institute’s Policing Project. He is a past president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), the nation’s largest civilian oversight organization, and he served as a commissioner on the Santa Monica Social Services Commission.
Brian earned a BS in criminal justice from Bowling Green State University and an MA in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He also earned a certificate from the USC Safe Communities Institute’s Public Safety Leadership program.
Florence Yu,
Assistant Inspector General
Florence Yu serves as the Assistant Inspector General over the OIG’s Complaint Section. The OIG’s Complaint Section oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation and adjudication of internal affairs investigations, and other areas relevant to police discipline.
Prior to joining the OIG, Ms. Yu was the recipient of an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps fellowship. In her former roles as a direct services attorney, Ms. Yu’s practice areas involved housing issues, immigration, and public benefits.
Ms. Yu holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Southern California and a Juris Doctor from the University of California – Hastings College of the Law.