L.A. COPS GET A BUM RAP

The Los Angeles Police Department has been rocked by allegations of massive
illegalities centered in its gang-plagued Rampart Division. At least 21
officers have either left the force or been placed on suspension pending
investigation of charges that cops planted evidence, intimidated witnesses,
and covered up unjustified shootings and beatings. At least 40 criminal
convictions have already been overturned, and many more may be. Last week
Rafael Perez, the rogue cop whose confession kicked off this scandal, was
sentenced to five years in prison for stealing eight pounds of cocaine.

Guess who caught Mr. Perez? The LAPD, that's who. And guess who immediately
turned on the afterburners and sent 50 investigators to just about every
prison in California and beyond to check out the allegations? You guessed
it. Yet if you read the headlines you might think the LAPD is awash in
corruption and out of control, a la "L.A. Confidential," that popular piece
of cinematic fiction based on James Ellroy's overheated novel.

You only have to tune in to a Geraldo Rivera show to catch the likes of
supersnide attorney Alan Dershowitz (notorious in cop circles for his
demonstrably preposterous claim that cops are trained in "testilying") in
order to hear gleeful predictions that the Rampart scandal will result in
the release of "thousands" of the wrongly convicted.

Here we go again. The same attempt to vilify the LAPD was made after the
Rodney King incident, an extraordinarily aberrant example of very excessive
force directed by a police sergeant intent on making an ex-convict cry
"uncle." The Rodney King affair resulted in the hiring of an outsider, Chief
Willie Williams of Philadelphia, to "clean up" the LAPD. A few years later
Mr. Williams was hastily bought out of his contract by the city fathers, who
realized that he was hopelessly out of his depth. That led to the elevation
of our present chief, Bernard Parks, a seasoned LAPD veteran.

'L.A. Confidential': Not a documentary. Chief Parks is not out of his depth.
In fact, one could hardly imagine a more perfect administrator to handle
this scandal: He is intelligent, articulate, educated and (a relevant fact
in a racially divided city) African-American. What should be most reassuring
to critics, he's a rigid disciplinarian. In fact, the Los Angeles Police
Protective League -- the police union -- sneeringly refers to him as
"Burnie" Parks because of his penchant for remorselessly roasting cops for
minor infractions. In a public attempt to embarrass Chief Parks, some LAPD
cops requested through the media that he not attend their funerals if they
are killed in the line of duty.

Alas, police critics are never satisfied, and they have demanded an
"outside" investigation of the Rampart scandal.Last week, the Justice
Department assigned six special agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to oversee the Rampart investigation and report any violations
of civil rights. Some call it window dressing, but perhaps it's good
dressing in that the FBI has cachet and might reassure a suspicious public.

But these feds cannot match the ruthlessly effective tactics of LAPD
Internal Affairs investigators, who can search cops' homes without benefit
of warrants and interrogate them without benefit of lawyers. If cops insist
on their Constitutional rights, they can be fired for insubordination. No
suspect has as few rights as a cop under investigation by Internal Affairs.

With the FBI on the scene, perhaps critics will simmer down and let the
investigation proceed without calling for indictments every hour or so. But
I predict they will not.

Speaking of predictions, I made one on "Larry King Live" during the early
stage of the O.J. Simpson trial. Taking into account the racial and gender
makeup of the jury, and Mr. Simpson's icon status in the African-American
community, I predicted that he would be acquitted and subsequently serve as
grand marshal in Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade. I got the second
part wrong.

I herewith offer another prediction, this one about the Rampart scandal. I
predict that scores of cops will be charged with minor infractions unrelated
to any criminal activity, but there will be draconian suspensions and pay
losses, which will make many families suffer. And there will only be a
handful of criminal cops charged with serious felonies. Those few cops will
be convicted. None will ever ride in a Rose Parade.