D.A. SERVES 17 SEARCH WARRANTS AT OFFICERS' HOMES IN RAMPART PROBE

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The District Attorney's Office searched the homes of 17
Los Angeles police officers Friday morning as part of its months-long
investigation into one of the worst police corruption scandals in the
city's history.

Meanwhile, sources told the Los Angeles Times the scandal was to reach a
new level Monday when Justice Department officials arrive to meet with
local authorities and tell them they will bring a federal civil rights
lawsuit against the Police Department unless a number of reforms are agreed
to. The sources would not say what reforms will be demanded, the Times
reported in a story for Saturday's editions.

The serving of search warrants came a day after a judge threw out six more
convictions prosecutors believe were tainted by police misconduct in the
scandal that came to light last summer when a disgraced former officer
began cooperating with police investigators in exchange for a lighter
sentence for stealing cocaine.

So far more than 80 cases have been dismissed and some 30 officers have
been relieved of duty as a result of the scandal in which officers at the
city's Rampart station are said to have framed scores of people for crimes
they didn't commit, sometimes beating, robbing and shooting them as well.

Criminal charges have been filed against three officers, and Police Chief
Bernard Parks has said he expects more people to be charged.

In the latest twist to the scandal, the Times said Bill Lann Lee, the head
of the Justice Department's civil rights division, was to meet Monday
afternoon with a number of local officials, including the city attorney,
police chief and at least two City Council members.

The Justice Department has been monitoring the Los Angeles Police
Department since 1996 to determine whether it is guilty of a pattern of
abusive behavior. In recent months the probe has come to focus on the
Rampart scandal in particular.

The newspaper said federal investigators now believe they have enough
evidence to bring a lawsuit against the LAPD.

Although it wasn't known what reforms officials might demand in exchange
for not suing, in previous cases they have insisted on the appointment of
an outside monitor.

In a case involving the city of Pittsburgh, an auditor was given authority
to review all incidents in which police used force, searched people or made
traffic stops.

Any time the auditor determines there is a problem he can demand an
investigation.

Friday's searches were condemned by Ted Hunt, president of the Los Angeles
Police Protective League, who said prosecutors served the warrants at about
7 a.m. in front of officers' children and neighbors.

"The District Attorney ordered his investigators to present themselves with
guns drawn in a combat stance in front of children; forced an officer to
stand outside on his front lawn in his undershirt and shorts; and an
officer's elderly father was physically pushed around," Hunt said in a
statement.

T-shirts, personal notes, photographs and family financial records were
among the items seized, he said.

One of the search warrants was illegal, according to Hunt, who said the
police union plans to go to court to challenge the confiscation of notes
from one officer's meetings with his attorney and his defense representative.

DA spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin said all 17 warrants were signed by Superior
Court Judge Larry Fidler. She refused to discuss specific information about
the warrants, which are under seal.