L.A. POLICE CHIEF GIVES ORDER TO DISBAND THE ANTI-GANG UNITS

New units will be created soon

LOS ANGELES -- The chief of the Los Angeles Police Department directed
the department yesterday to disband the semiautonomous anti-gang units
at the heart of the city's police corruption and brutality scandal.

The units, called Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, or
CRASH units, were formed in the late 1970s in the administration of
Chief Daryl Gates in response to the city's growing problem with
street gangs.

More recently, such units have come under scrutiny for giving officers
too much independence, which, if unchecked, could lead to the abuse of
power.

Rafael Perez, the former Los Angeles police officer who pleaded guilty
to cocaine theft last September and disclosed a wide range of
corruption and brutality in exchange for a lighter sentence, was a
member of the CRASH unit in the low-income neighborhoods patrolled by
the department's Rampart division.

In his statements to investigators, Perez portrayed the units as
having a culture and mission much like those of the gangs they tried
to thwart, with officer initiations similar to gang "jump-in" beating
rituals.

Some officers bore anti-gang-unit tattoos, Perez said, and awards were
given out to officers who wounded or killed suspects.

A broad department inquiry report made public on Thursday said that
the units lacked "conscientious supervision," that supervisors'
signatures on booking approvals and reports may have been forged, that
detention reports often lacked descriptions of sufficient probable
cause and that many of the units had drifted from their mission of
combating gang activity to deal with drug activity.

The announcement late yesterday by Chief Bernard Parks that the units
would be discontinued made no mention of the scandal that has engulfed
the Los Angeles Police Department in recent months.

Parks said the units would be disbanded effective March 12, and would
be replaced a month after that by "special enforcement units" in each
of the city's 18 police divisions.

The new units will have stricter requirements for both officers and
supervisors and will limit the time they can serve with the units.

Beyond that, all people arrested by the new units must be presented to
the supervisory officer in the area.

Under the setup being replaced by the new units, some CRASH units
operated out of separate quarters and had limited contact with
regular-duty officers and supervisors.

It was not immediately clear how the new units' duties would differ
from those of the CRASH units.

Parks' statement said only that the department would reveal the new
units' mission in time.

In an interview in his office on Thursday, the day before making his
announcement, Parks denied that he was contemplating any changes in
the way the anti-gang units operated.

"I think the issue we're dealing with is, we're aggressive toward
problems, we are not aggressive toward people," he said heatedly.

"We don't declare war on a community," he said.

"We do not declare war on people. We will always have an aggressive
strategy on gang problems, as long as there are gang problems."

State Sen. Tom Hayden, a Democrat who has taken a lead role in
criticizing the department, said the disbanding of the units was
encouraging.

But Hayden added that it remained to be seen whether real change would
occur.

"Even if it's only symbolic, it's an important step," Hayden said.
"But we have to look at the details very carefully.

"The secrecy has to end, the budget has to be published, the members
of these details have got to have human rights training. The purpose
of the patrol should be to arrest people who are breaking the law."