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)."