Pubdate: Tue, 16 May 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Fax: (213) 237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/
Author: Mark Ridley-Thomas
Note: Mark Ridley-Thomas represents the 8th District on the Los Angeles 
City Council, Including the Leimert Park, Exposition Park and Green Meadows 
areas
Bookmark: Additional articles on the Rampart corruption may be found at 
http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTION MAKES REFORM URGENT

The Pressure Is On, So City Leaders Must Go The Extra Mile To Show 
Accountability And Commitment.

The Department of Justice's decision to get involved in cleaning up the Los 
Angeles Police Department has given police reform advocates a reason for 
hope. Police reform has proved to be an elusive goal for those of us who 
have struggled over the years to give the citizens of Los Angeles the very 
best in law enforcement--safety, fairness, professionalism and service. 
Let's admit we came up short.

Police reform was formally inaugurated in 1992 with the passage of Charter 
Amendment F. With the advent of the Riordan administration one year later, 
priorities changed with respect to the LAPD. The new administration 
engineered a hasty expansionist agenda, playing to the fears of an 
electorate still in shock from the civil disturbance. Suddenly, bigger 
became better. Reform was sacrificed on the altar of safety, as if the two 
were mutually exclusive. Frankly, we, the decision-makers, could not muster 
the political will to keep reform on track. Federal intervention does not 
feel good. It certainly does not look good. I believe, however, that we 
brought this on ourselves. This is not "big brother" coming on the scene 
without cause.

Those among us who are short-sighted will see federal intervention as a 
black eye, an affront. They will posture to try to deflect the stigma of 
bringing such shame to the city. They will say, this is Los Angeles, after 
all, and not one of those other jurisdictions that are currently under a 
federal consent decree. This is an arrogant and foolish response.

Those who take the long view, as we all should, will weigh other factors. 
First, all residents of Los Angeles deserve the finest police force that 
our resources can obtain. Also, there are significant parts of the city 
that have never gained resolution for long-standing grievances against the 
LAPD. These events are buried in the collective consciousness of 
communities that yearn for justice.

In addition, there are newly arrived people in Los Angeles searching for 
opportunity and freedom who are instead visited by the very same terrorist 
police tactics they fled. Many have suffered in silence. Others have 
protested, but have been ignored by police supervisors, attorneys and judges.

Finally, there is the U.S. Constitution, the singular point of reference 
that binds all of us together. The rule of law and its equal application is 
fundamental. No police officer's badge can or should be allowed to take 
that away. The wanton criminal violations of constitutional protections by 
police officers has severely eroded public trust and confidence.

How do we get out of this? The road is clear: straight on. To what goal 
must we commit? Reform. The strategy? Straight talk and heavy-lifting. And 
the program? There is no shortage of proposals, from the Christopher 
Commission report to the more recent LAPD Board of Inquiry report on the 
Rampart activities. These reports are a good place to start. They deserve 
close reading again in order to carefully design a comprehensive reform 
program that includes civilian oversight and staffing and community-based 
policing.

The Police Commission's ongoing work in investigating corruption provides 
one example of what should be avoided. In a city as diverse as Los Angeles, 
the panel investigating Rampart for the commission is 70% white male. Quite 
a misstep. Equally important, although we were assured that the process 
would be transparent, no one that I know of has received a status report or 
an invitation to any meeting where the review panel is hearing expert 
testimony on any of the many issues it is investigating.

I believe that, in the final analysis, the work product of the review 
panel, marked as it is by exclusion and secrecy, will be seriously 
challenged. For all the good the Police Commission might do in overseeing 
the daily operations of the department--and I believe it is 
considerable--it has already shown us that it doesn't have what it takes to 
investigate this level of police corruption.

According to a recent Los Angeles Times poll, there is significant 
support--75%--for establishing an independent commission. What are we 
waiting for? A consent decree to make us do the right thing?

There is considerable work to be done. This is not the time for 
decision-makers to abdicate their leadership responsibilities. This is an 
unprecedented situation calling for an unprecedented course of action. 
Precisely because the pressure is on in a new way, we must go the extra 
mile to show accountability, commitment and extraordinary leadership.

It's time to stop pursuing reform in a piecemeal or half-hearted manner. 
It's time to reach out to others of like mind to build a broad-based 
coalition and to replenish the ranks. Police reform, this time, must 
succeed in order to make Los Angeles a better city for all of its people. 
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MAP posted-by: Thunder