POLICE CHIEF, DA FEUD OVER RAMPART PROBE

Tension between Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and District
Attorney Gil Garcetti over the Rampart Division scandal probe exploded into
open warfare and personal attacks Wednesday, leaving critical questions
about how -- and whether -- they will cooperate unanswered.

Mayor Richard Riordan attempted to mediate the dispute, but Garcetti passed
up the meeting and held a news conference to accuse Parks of obstructing his
investigation and refusing to cooperate with prosecutors -- actions he vowed
to answer with subpoenas.

Parks responded by accusing Garcetti, who faces a tough re-election fight
after running second in the primary, of political grandstanding and dragging
his feet in prosecuting rogue anti-gang officers in the Rampart Division.

After meeting with them separately, an angry Riordan publicly chided both
men, telling them to grow up and act like responsible leaders.

"This isn't a children's game and the chief of police and district attorney
have been acting like children," Riordan said, tossing aside his prepared
remarks and banging his fist on the podium.

"They have to start acting like adults and put the city first. The people of
the city have to have confidence in the district attorney and the chief of
police."

The feud, which has marred the probe for months, inflamed critics of the
LAPD both in and out of City Hall in large part because the District
Attorney's Office got to put the first spin on the issue of cooperation by
leaking its version of the situation.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski typified the reaction at City Hall, saying,
"I've never heard of anything like that . . . I think what the chief did was
grossly improper."

Left unclear was whether Parks' plan to use U.S. Attorney Alejandro N.
Mayorkas' office as a clearinghouse for investigative information to be
shared with the District Attorney's Office would be acceptable to Garcetti.

Parks called Garcetti's claim that the LAPD was freezing the district
attorney out of the investigation "blatant and false material." He insisted
he had more confidence in the U.S. Attorney's Office than in Garcetti, whose
office has only sought two minor pieces of information in the past month.

"We certainly have some lack of confidence in their (District Attorney's
Office) ability to deal with this case," Parks said at an evening news
conference at the Rampart Division station.

"I talked to him personally and explained that the D.A.'s Office has never
been denied any information and never will, regardless of our frustrations.
It makes no difference to me as to which agency prosecutes the case."

Referring to Garcetti and his statements, Parks added, "That is not an
individual who is trying to resolve the issue. This signifies self-service
to us." In taking his own frustration public, Garcetti told a noontime news
conference that Parks had no legal basis for withholding investigative
information from his office.

"There is no legal authority for the chief to thumb his nose at us and I
can't accept it," he said. "I won't tolerate it. We cannot permit anyone to
obstruct our effort of getting to the bottom of this.

"Any refusal by the management of the Los Angeles Police Department to
provide investigative reports and investigative assistance to our
prosecutors is unacceptable and contrary to law. If we do not receive LAPD
reports, we will subpoena them, and we'll subpoena every single officer
involved in the Rampart investigation if necessary."

On March 8, Parks sent a letter to Garcetti's office to "advise and educate"
prosecutors on a process worked out with the U.S. Attorney's Office to speed
up the investigation.

Other letters were exchanged between the LAPD, district attorney and U.S.
attorney in the following days, culminating in what Garcetti said was his
conversation with Parks on Tuesday in which the chief flatly refused to
cooperate.

Although the letters from the LAPD never explicitly said investigative
material would be withheld, Garcetti said Parks told him orally that the
LAPD no longer intended to provide either investigative reports or
investigative assistance.

At that point, Garcetti sent a letter stating that the process Parks
proposed was unacceptable -- and then he went public with his version of the
dispute.

Parks said he believed that Garcetti, in conference with Attorney General
Bill Lockyer, had as recently as Monday agreed to protocols that would sort
out how the respective agencies would handle the investigations and
prosecutions.

City Attorney James Hahn, whose mayoral campaign, like Garcetti's
re-election campaign, is managed by Bill Carrick, weighed into the
controversy by saying Parks is required by state law to work with the
District Attorney's Office about the Rampart case.

"There is no authority for a chief of police to refuse cooperation with a
public prosecutor,' Hahn said.

Hahn said he was disturbed by the lack of cooperation caused by "petty
personal differences."

"Obviously, nerves have been rubbed raw and we are allowing personalities to
get in the way of the truth," Hahn said.

After talking with the chief and hearing his explanations, Hahn said there
could have been a misunderstanding, and that the LAPD intended to cooperate
fully with Garcetti's office.

Lockyer, in a statement, also urged cooperation, saying the D.A.'s Office is
the best agency to prosecute cases arising under state laws, while the U.S.
Attorney's Office, with its subpoena power of the federal grand jury, is
better able to prosecute possible violations under federal civil rights
laws.

"All of these important resources should join forces to ensure justice and
necessary reform for Los Angeles by sharing information and coordinating
investigative efforts," Lockyer said.

Parks has grown increasingly frustrated with Garcetti for not filing charges
against three officers whose cases were referred for prosecution. Garcetti
has not said whether any of the cases was strong enough to charge, and that
he intends to try to develop a conspiracy case against a larger number of
officers.

"This is the biggest case in Los Angeles in 60 years, and Garcetti sits on
it," said one source close to the investigation and the politics surrounding
it. "Now he's doing damage control."

Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California, said, "We have an imperial chief in Los Angeles. The
refusal of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks to work with the L.A.
County District Attorney's Office on the Rampart corruption scandal is
another reason why it is essential to appoint an independent commission to
examine the systemic problems in the LAPD. Parks is trying to grab more
authority, rather than be held accountable for his actions and those of his
department."