LAPD SCANDAL LEAVES OFFICIALS, POLITICIANS POINTING FINGERS

One Government Expert Sees Greater Than Usual 'Irresponsibility' By
Leaders As They Jockey For Position And Seek To Please Voters

LOS ANGELES - One of the worst scandals in Los Angeles history has done
more than ruin the reputation of the Police Department -- it has left city
officials, county prosecutors and the police chief jockeying for political
and public approval.

Unraveling revelations of brutal misconduct, police abuse and lax
supervision of cops could be a difficult task not only because of the
magnitude of the allegations of wrongdoing in the Los Angeles Police
Department, but also for the infighting that is taking place.

Police Chief Bernard Parks is battling with District Attorney Gil Garcetti,
whom he has accused of taking too long investigating cases that could
result in criminal prosecution. The head prosecutor has said he won't be
rushed.

Meanwhile, Mayor Richard Riordan has been criticized by a group of City
Council members who claim he is keeping them from being informed about the
investigation.

One political expert says it has as much to do with personalities as it
does with political ambitions.

"Politicians often blame each other and try to escape responsibility in
that way, but I think what we are seeing now is truly greater
irresponsibility on the part of our elected officials," said Erwin
Chemerinsky, a University of Southern California law professor. The city's
police union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, has asked him to
critique the LAPD's internal inquiry.

"All of the finger pointing between the D.A. and the police chief is not
helping to solve anything," Chemerinsky said Thursday.

Nor will the antics that were displayed Wednesday. Five City Council
members accused the mayor of shutting them out of an impromptu press
conference on the Police Department's Board of Inquiry report. They knocked
repeatedly on the door and finally got in after the briefing was over. A
spokeswoman for the mayor said the room was already full.

The report found that faulty supervision of officers at the Rampart station
near downtown, as well as police personnel turning a blind eye to
wrongdoing, led to the scandal in which Rampart officers beat, shot and
robbed innocent people.

"For the mayor to lock out City Council members from a press conference so
that they have to bang on the door to get in - that's just childish,"
Chemerinsky said.

Finger pointing surfaced earlier that same day when Parks was asked about
Garcetti's suggestion that the Rampart scandal was Parks' mess - one the
head prosecutor is just helping to clean up.

The chief said he "issued a challenge to every member of the criminal
justice system to do the same thing we did" and investigate their departments.

He also said he wants to push Garcetti, who is up for re-election, "to act
quicker" in prosecuting cases.

Victoria Pipkin, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said she
would not respond directly to Parks' remarks about other departments
looking for possible misdeeds.

"Suffice it to say, the entire criminal justice system has been impacted by
the scandal," Pipkin said.

Garcetti has said he won't compromise his ability to successfully prosecute
those in the scandal by rushing a weak case to court.

But he has pledged to file charges in connection with the case in 90 days,
Pipkin said.

"We're moving as expeditiously as possible, but these cases do take time,"
she said.

Fifteen damage suits have been filed as a result of the scandal, and
officials have estimated liability could cost taxpayers more than $100
million.

Forty tainted convictions have been overturned and 20 officers have been
relieved of duty, while investigators continue to review scores more cases
to see if other people were framed.

According to Chemerinsky, officials are going to have to get along to
continue to produce tangible results.

"What I think we are seeing now is hostility and personality conflicts and
distrust that has built up over a long period ... playing itself out," he
said. "I think it does have a real danger of obstructing the investigations
and even the handling of the lawsuits."

Riordan's senior deputy press secretary, Jessica Copen, said the mayor has
been supportive of both Garcetti and Parks. And the mayor and the council
did come together on a vote supporting the Police Commission.

"Everyone is working together. They are," Copen said.