Pubdate: Mon, 22 May 2000 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 2000 Associated Press Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Author: The Associated Press Bookmark: additional articles on the LAPD Rampart police corruption may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm and article on other governmental corruption may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm LAPD IS POLICING ITSELF, PARKS SAYS SCANDAL: The police chief says problems on the force have been exaggerated. He says federal help with reforms is unneeded. LOS ANGELES - In his first public statement since federal authorities threatened him with a lawsuit two weeks ago, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said he doesn't need the federal government to help him reform the police department. Internal efforts to curb officer misconduct are in place and simply need time to succeed, Parks told the Daily News of Los Angeles in an interview published Sunday. He denied patterns of abuse and said problems on the police force have been overstated. He criticized the Department of Justice for threatening to intervene with a federal lawsuit unless leaders negotiate new ways to fix the force. The Justice Department action followed a four-year investigation that found the Los Angeles Police Department is plagued by rogue officers and poor supervision. "There are a variety of ways (officers) have gotten in trouble, but many of them are isolated, where officers made poor decisions," he said. Parks also said the misconduct allegations against several officers in the Rampart division corruption scandal do not reflect the overall behavior of the department's nearly 9,300 officers. The scandal centers on a group of anti-gang officers who allegedly beat, framed and sometimes shot suspects. The Rampart scandal has prompted criminal charges against three officers and led to about 30 being relieved of duty. "We're not saying that no one could go into our files and find a use of force, and officer-involved shooting or a personnel matter with which they would disagree," Parks said. "But when you look at the totality ... we don't see the actions or activities citywide, or in the concentration (of Rampart)." - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder