Pubdate: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 Source: Contra Costa Times (CA) Copyright: 2000 Contra Costa Newspapers Inc. Address: 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 Feedback: http://www.hotcoco.com/site/letters.htm Website: http://www.hotcoco.com/index.htm Forum: http://www.hotcoco.com/cocotalk/index.htm Author: Tom Verdin, Associated Press POLICE CHIEF, D.A. FIGHT OVER SCANDAL LAPD's Parks Denies That He Is Withholding Information, But Says He Is Giving The FBI And U.S. Attorney Priority LOS ANGELES -- The probe of one of the worst scandals in LAPD history degenerated into a free-for-all Wednesday, with the district attorney accusing the police chief of not cooperating, and the chief implying the D.A. may not be up to the task. Chief Bernard C. Parks, who has repeatedly criticized local prosecutors for moving too slowly in bringing charges against corrupt officers, said his department is continuing to cooperate with Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, although he has serious reservations about Garcetti's efforts. "We are not pleased with the slowness of what has been done," Parks told reporters during a news conference Wednesday night outside the Rampart police station, which sits at the center of the investigation. "We certainly have some lack of confidence with their ability to deal with this case, but we certainly have not let that stop us from cooperating," Parks added. At another news conference earlier in the day, Garcetti said the Police Department had stopped cooperating with his investigators, adding that if necessary he will subpoena department officials to obtain access to documents and witnesses. The rift between Garcetti and Parks, rumored for weeks, brought expressions of outrage from other city officials, the 9,500-member police union, and the American Civil Liberties Union when it moved fully into the open this week. "I think it sounds absolutely insane," Councilwoman Laura Chick said. "Certainly we need government agencies working together -- not quibbling, not pointing fingers at each other." The corruption scandal centers on a group of rogue anti-gang officers in the department's Rampart division who framed, bullied and sometimes shot innocent people. At least 29 officers have been relieved of duty, and dozens of criminal convictions have been overturned. Key to the investigation is veteran undercover officer Rafael Perez, who was convicted of stealing cocaine from a police evidence locker. In exchange for a five-year prison sentence, he identified dozens of fellow cops who he claimed abused their power and maintained a code of silence between 1995 and 1998. The District Attorney's Office has yet to file charges against any officer implicated in the corruption, fearing that moving too swiftly could jeopardize cases. The lack of criminal action against officers has angered Parks, who invited the FBI to join the investigation several weeks ago without informing Garcetti. A March 8 letter Parks wrote to the District Attorney's Office notes the Police Department's desire to bring swift prosecution of officers accused of misconduct. "Continued delay endangers criminal prosecutions and our department's administrative disciplinary procedures," Parks wrote. The letter also outlined a new approach to the department's role in the investigation, saying its top priority will be to give material to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which also recently entered the investigation. Garcetti contends his office is the lead agency in the case. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer and City Attorney Jim Hahn issued separate statements Wednesday saying Parks has no legal grounds to withhold material related to the investigation. Lockyer said the department's actions were "unwarranted, illegal and not in keeping with the collaborative spirit under which this matter should proceed." In a letter to Parks and the city Police Commission, Hahn said he found no authority for the chief to refuse to cooperate with the District Attorney's Office. Hahn said Wednesday, however, that Parks told him he was cooperating and that the district attorney overreacted. That was essentially what Parks said at his news conference. "We've always been cooperative. It's our department that brought the information to the district attorney," Parks said. "It's our department that continues the investigation, and when the district attorney, on the cases we've given him, when he has issues that he thinks are relevant, we will certainly investigate those when they come forward." But he complained that Garcetti was taking too long with the investigation. "We have presented cases that we have documented that have been in his offices for several months," he said, adding that three cases in which police asked Garcetti to bring criminal charges have languished so long that the department now plans to reinvestigate them and turn the findings over to both the U.S. attorney and the district attorney. "There is no legal authority for the chief to thumb his nose at us and I can't accept it. I won't tolerate it," Garcetti said at his news conference. Mayor Richard Riordan, who supported Parks' request to bring in the FBI, said Wednesday he would try to mediate the dispute. "I am not going to pass judgment," he said. "My job as chief executive of this city is to get the parties together, to get them to work together, to get Rampart behind us." The finger-pointing is likely to increase public skepticism that the investigating agencies can adequately root out the corruption, said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "This is really like a school-yard brawl where the adult authorities have to come in and get everybody to cooperate," she said. "In a city where the public is already losing credibility in the Police Department, now you wonder whether those who are supposed to clean up the mess can do their jobs." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea