Pubdate: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 Source: Bakersfield Californian (CA) Copyright: 2000, The Bakersfield Californian. Contact: PO Box 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302-0440 Website: http://www.bakersfield.com/ Author: Associated Press POLICE LIMITING ACCESS TO EVIDENCE FOLLOWING COCAINE THEFT BY OFFICER LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Police Department limited access to criminal evidence after a cocaine theft by one of its own led to one of the largest scandals in city history. Police officers are no longer allowed to remove drugs, guns or money from evidence lockers, spokeswoman Lt. Sharyn Buck said. "We now only let them take photographs of the evidence," Buck told the Daily News of Los Angeles for Sunday's edition. The department cracked down on access to evidence after the August 1998 arrest of Rampart station officer Rafael Perez, who was sentenced Friday for stealing eight pounds of cocaine. In exchange for a lighter sentence, Perez cooperated with investigators and alleged widespread corruption in the station's anti-gang unit. Twenty officers have been relieved of duty and 40 convictions overturned because of the ongoing investigation. Perez told investigators that beginning in December 1997, he took advantage of lax oversight in the LAPD's system for checking out evidence. In confidential testimony obtained by the newspaper, Perez told investigators that he checked out dope from the evidence room and several times replaced it with flour. He abused a flawed "honor system" to pull off the thefts, Perez said. "I could have been anybody," he told investigators in September. "I could have sent a civilian person in there ... They don't check I.D. Anybody can walk in there." Perez said he would disguise himself with thick glasses, a "really big jacket" and a baseball cap pulled tightly over his head. He normally requested cocaine that was scheduled to be destroyed. The drugs were not tested when officers returned them, because department policy dictated only random inspections for narcotics scheduled to be destroyed. Perez said the best cocaine in the evidence room was often his target. Perez slipped in March 1998 when he signed out eight pounds of cocaine and failed to replace it with flour. He used the badge number of another officer with the same last name to check out the drugs. When that officer was cleared, the trail led back to Perez. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D