Pubdate: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ L.A.'S UNGOVERNABLE POLICE Los Angeles is not the only American city that has problems with its police department, but the L.A.P.D. seems uniquely hospitable to rogue cops and uniquely resistant to reform. Only eight years after the Rodney King episode, the city is suffering a new scandal that has led to charges of perjury, evidence tampering and attempted murder, and attracted the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States attorney and California's attorney general. A report released yesterday by the Police Department acknowledged that a "breakdown" in supervision had led to the scandal. But the report perpetuates the myth that the department can police itself. The department inspired national outrage in 1991 when several officers were captured on videotape savagely beating Mr. King. Soon afterward a blue-ribbon panel, the Christopher commission, urged a "major overhaul" of the Police Department and urged the appointment of an independent inspector general who would have broad powers to investigate abuses. But Los Angeles has shown little commitment to changing the way the Police Department is monitored and run. The first inspector general, Katherine Mader, resigned after a mere three years in office, complaining of interference from police officials. The strong inspector envisioned by the commission has yet to emerge. The latest scandal came to light last September when a former officer, Rafael Perez, was being prosecuted for stealing several pounds of cocaine from the department's evidence room. Investigators pressed Mr. Perez to expose other officers who were involved in the drug trade and were surprised when he gave them a detailed account of how the L.A.P.D.'s anti-gang unit went about its business. He said his colleagues routinely framed innocent gang members, lied in court, and occasionally shot and planted weapons on unarmed people. Shockingly, Mr. Perez said that officers and supervisors celebrated shootings by awarding plaques to officers who wounded or killed people. Investigators say the revelations of false evidence have tainted hundreds of convictions. About 70 officers are said to be under investigation and 40 cases have been overturned - with many more sure to follow - and the city has prepared itself to pay out $200 million in legal settlements. The Los Angeles County district attorney, Gil Garcetti, has assembled an impressive task force and says he has the investigation firmly in hand. The Los Angeles police Chief, Bernard Parks, made a similar declaration yesterday, asserting in a department report that current protocols for handling corruption complaints were "generally sufficient" to get the job done. But what appears to be a feud between Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Parks - as well as plummeting public confidence in the police - have prompted federal and state authorities to step into the case. Both Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Parks have denied the existence of a turf war. But given the city's mediocre record of policing its own police, federal intervention may be exactly what is needed to get to the bottom of a deep, systemic problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D