CITY, GROUPS PLAN FAKE-DRUG PROBES

Flurry Of Investigations Comes As FBI Wraps Up 2-Year Inquiry

City and county officials and community groups say they will mount their
own investigations into Dallas' fake-drug scandal, a week after the
acquittal of the only police officer charged with a crime.

On Monday, members of the City Council's Public Safety Committee pledged a
swift start to the city's inquiry, though the scope and format of the
investigation remain uncertain. Announcements by community groups are
planned throughout the week.

District Attorney Bill Hill has scheduled a news conference Tuesday
afternoon to address his office's response to last week's acquittal of
former police Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz by a federal jury. Mr. Hill will
reportedly announce an investigation by an independent prosecutor that
would focus on state criminal charges stemming from the bogus arrests of at
least two dozen people in 2001.

Members of LULAC and other Latino community groups are supporting the local
investigations as well as calling for congressional scrutiny. They have
announcements planned for Tuesday and Wednesday, and a protest is planned
Sunday afternoon.

The flurry of investigations comes as the FBI wraps up its nearly two-year
examination that resulted in Mr. Delapaz's indictment.

Three confidential informants who worked with Mr. Delapaz have pleaded
guilty to setting up innocent people for arrest. They await sentencing.

Mr. Delapaz was charged only with making false statements in reports and to
investigators. Prosecutors charged that he claimed to have witnessed drug
transactions that never occurred.

FBI Request

FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey said the agency had requested that Dallas
police refrain from conducting an internal investigation while the federal
investigation was under way.

Agent Bailey said FBI officials still need to confer with Justice
Department attorneys about how to proceed. She added that the FBI was aware
of imminent city investigations and had not requested that they hold off.

Jesse Diaz, president of the Dallas chapter of the League of United Latin
American Citizens, said he is disappointed that the federal investigation
took so long and that so many questions remain.

Now it's time for the federal agency to step aside, he said.

"I just don't believe in the FBI investigation anymore because they took so
long," he said. "In my opinion we wasted two years."

Mr. Diaz suggested that any investigation should be independent from the
Police Department.

"The perception out there in the community - we just don't believe the
police can investigate the police," Mr. Diaz said.

Reinstatement Offer

After the not-guilty verdict last Tuesday, City Attorney Madeleine Johnson
offered to reinstate Mr. Delapaz, who was fired in April after his federal
indictment. Details of the reinstatement were still being worked out Monday.

Mr. Delapaz's attorney, Bob Baskett, welcomed an internal investigation.
"If they think the system is partly to blame for this, then they sure
should investigate it," he said.

William Buckman, a New Jersey attorney who specializes in civil rights
cases involving police, said it is critical that all questions get resolved.

"Actions like these poison the relationship between communities and the
police," he said. "Citizens whose cooperation the police need are
standoffish. It turns the police into an occupying force instead of a
community where there is give and take."

City Council member Elba Garcia, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee,
said independent investigators should conduct the inquiry.

"I want to bring in someone from the outside to look into the department,"
she said. "It's important to get to the bottom of who was responsible for
what happened."

'No Limitations'

Council member Gary Griffith called for "an investigation with no limitations."

He said he hoped the city could announce its plans within the next week.
The investigation should be limited to three to four months, he said.

Members of the public safety committee went to their meeting Monday
prepared to discuss the details of the city's investigation. But their
conversation was cut short when they learned that the issue had been pulled
from their agenda.

Assistant City Manager Charles Daniels said his briefing simply was not
ready - an explanation that elicited angry complaints from the committee.

Mayor Laura Miller is scheduled to meet with Dr. Garcia, Mr. Griffith and
other city officials Tuesday to discuss how the city should proceed.
Interim Police Chief Randy Hampton said that he has spoken with FBI
officials and that they are in the final stages of their investigation.

He said the FBI's work should not preclude the city from launching its inquiry.

"They realize that we need to move forward," Chief Hampton said.