DEBATE IN D.A.'S RACE FOCUSES ON CORRUPT POLICE

Politics: Gil Garcetti and challenger Steve Cooley attack the lack of
prosecution for two officers in drug-related offenses.

In a televised debate marked by sharp exchanges Thursday, Los Angeles County
Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and opponent Steve Cooley expressed outrage that
two LAPD officers accused of drug-related corruption were not prosecuted.

Garcetti said during the hourlong debate in Santa Monica that he would work
with the LAPD to ensure that whenever there is evidence of a potential
criminal act that results in a police officer's termination, that
information must be referred to prosecutors.

Cooley, a head deputy district attorney who won more votes than Garcetti in
the March primary, used the opportunity to promise that if he is elected,
the district attorney's office will be more proactive and will monitor all
LAPD Board of Rights disciplinary hearings for evidence of police misconduct
that should be investigated and prosecuted.

Cooley also pledged to establish a separate public integrity unit within the
district attorney's office to pursue police misconduct and corruption among
public officials. After the face-to-face encounter, Cooley said he favors
using sting operations if necessary to ferret out corrupt officials.

The cases of the two officers served as a springboard for Cooley to
criticize again Garcetti's handling of cases stemming from the Rampart
police corruption scandal. "Mr. Garcetti doesn't understand the fundamental
principles of prosecution and lawyering," Cooley said, roundly attacking the
incumbent's alleged slowness in bringing to justice officers implicated in
presenting false police reports and testimony and in some cases planting
drugs or weapons on suspects. "Mr. Garcetti is eight months late. He is not
on the right course," Cooley said.

But Garcetti defended his actions, saying prosecutors cannot rely simply on
the confessions of ex-LAPD Officer Rafael Perez, but must come up with
independent evidence to present in court. "That takes time. That takes
effort," Garcetti said. If the district attorney's office failed to do an
adequate job and lost the cases against police officers in court, he
suggested, critics would accuse prosecutors of engaging in a whitewash and
being in bed with the police.

"We are doing it the right way," Garcetti said, adding that the cases he has
brought were filed much faster than the federal government's.

Garcetti declined to comment on negotiations between the U.S. Justice
Department and Los Angeles officials over the federal government's threat to
sue the city to force reforms within the LAPD. He said to do so would be
inappropriate.

Cooley again seized the chance to urge officials of the Justice Department's
Civil Rights Division to file suit against the city alleging a pattern or
practice of police misconduct so the public can see all the evidence that
has been gathered about what's gone wrong at the LAPD. He cautioned about
politicians from Washington and politicians from Los Angeles negotiating an
agreement in secret to involve the federal government in overseeing the
LAPD.

The animosity between the two men was evident when Cooley accused Garcetti
of not being aggressive enough in protecting the public from police
corruption that he said is proving "very devastating to the entire justice
system."