SECRECY OFFERED TO INFORMERS IN RAMPART PROBE

In an effort to coax forward additional informants in the ongoing LAPD
corruption probe, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said
Tuesday that he will offer confidentiality to police officers who
witnessed their colleagues' crimes or misconduct but failed to report
the activity to their superiors.

The offer is aimed at officers who know of corrupt acts but who are
reluctant to cooperate with police investigators for fear of losing
their jobs because the LAPD can fire those who fail to report
misconduct in a timely manner.

Garcetti said the promise of confidentiality will not be extended to
officers who participated in crimes.

He said the offer was necessary to combat the LAPD's prevalent "code
of silence" and to move forward with the corruption case, which has
been fueled largely by the admissions and allegations of former
Officer Rafael Perez, an admitted drug thief and perjurer.

"We're trying to get the word out," Garcetti said. "We'll talk to you
and protect your confidentiality."

The district attorney's overture would allow officers who may be
troubled about crimes or misconduct they have witnessed to clear their
consciences without fear of certain reprisal by the department.

Garcetti's move is sure to anger LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, who has
rejected any amnesty--however limited--for officers who failed to
immediately report misconduct. Some sources interpreted the district
attorney's action as a confrontational gesture toward the chief, which
the prosecutor probably would not have made if not for the
deteriorating relations between their two agencies.

Garcetti said such a move was necessary, "given our quest for the
truth and the extraordinary case we are faced with."

LAPD Cmdr. David J. Kalish, the chief's spokesman, said that he hadn't
heard about the plan but that the department does not support it.

"We would find it highly troubling if the D.A. was to withhold
critical information, including the identity of officers, from the
department concerning corruption or other wrongdoing," Kalish said.
"Not providing this information to the department could stymie our
investigative efforts."

Parks has told the Police Commission that he does not support making
any allowances for officers who hesitate to report crimes or
misconduct for whatever reason.

In a statement posted last month on the LAPD's Web site, Parks called
the idea of a one-time amnesty for violating failure-to-report
regulations, as proposed in a Times editorial, ludicrous and
preposterous.

"Failing to report wrongdoing can never be condoned," the chief wrote.
"Police officers take an oath that obligates them to tell the truth. .
. . Temporarily loosening the rules not only sends the wrong message,
but supports the code of silence and is not necessary for this
investigation to uncover the truth."

Nonetheless, the chief's civilian bosses on the Police Commission, as
part of their own probe of the Rampart scandal, said they are
considering the amnesty issue as a possible way around the code of
silence.

Garcetti said officers who took him up on his offer of confidentiality
would be treated more like confidential informants used by the police,
as opposed to witnesses who are expected to testify in court.

One LAPD officer interviewed by The Times in January confirmed many of
Perez's allegations, but has refused to provide information to
authorities because he is afraid of being fired.

Detectives on the LAPD's Rampart task force, eager to secure the
officer's cooperation, have attempted to learn his identity for weeks
but without success.

At least two other officers are cooperating with investigators to
varying degrees, but sources said some key witnesses in the probe have
maintained their silence out of fear of the department's disciplinary
retribution. Garcetti said another reason for the confidentiality
offer is to protect the identity of officers who have cooperated with
the LAPD but have complaints that their information is not being
seriously pursued by investigators.

One prosecutor said that although Garcetti's idea has merit, it also
poses potentially serious problems. The lawyer, who spoke on condition
of anonymity, said that if prosecutors learn that a particular officer
witnessed a crime or misconduct and then failed to act, the
prosecutors may be required to disclose that information to attorneys
defending officers involved in the alleged crime.

Peter Arenella, a law professor at UCLA, said an officer's failure to
disclose crimes and misconduct would not necessarily taint him in
unrelated cases. Moreover, Arenella questioned whether Garcetti's plan
was a true departure from procedures frequently used in police
misconduct investigations.

"There has always been a problem for prosecutors trying to crack the
code of silence," he said. "Promises of confidentiality and secrecy
have been used in the past to elicit cooperation."

LAPD officers who witnessed or are aware of crimes or misconduct could
be invaluable to prosecutors attempting to corroborate Perez's
allegations. Even if the officers don't serve as witnesses and testify
in court, they can be useful guides to investigators attempting to
sort through allegations.

The officer who spoke to The Times, for example, described a New
Year's Eve 1995 shooting in which Rampart anti-gang officers wounded
two suspects who had been firing celebratory shots into the air before
they allegedly opened fire on the officers without warning.

The officer interviewed by The Times said the officers involved in the
shooting were "hunting" that night, and probably had not been
provoked. At the time of the interview, that officer did not know that
Perez was secretly telling LAPD investigators that he was at the scene
of the shooting and that it was indeed unjustified and covered up.
Police are now actively investigating the incident.

Since the scandal broke in September, authorities have acknowledged
that building a case against allegedly rogue cops would be extremely
difficult, especially without officers to corroborate Perez's testimony.

Perez, a former anti-gang CRASH officer in the Rampart Division, is
cooperating with authorities in exchange for a five-year prison
sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from department evidence
facilities. He has alleged that LAPD officers, among other things,
were involved in unjustified shootings, beatings, framing of innocent
people and perjury.

To date, more than two dozen LAPD officers, including at least three
sergeants, have been relieved of duty, suspended without pay, fired or
have quit in connection with the scandal. More than 40 court cases
have been overturned amid allegations of police misconduct.