L.A. POLICE MADE UP OWN RULES, REPORT SAYS

Department Probe Finds Disgraced Unit Had Little Supervision, Discipline

LOS ANGELES -- Officers in an anti-gang unit at the center of a police
corruption scandal believed they were in a life-or-death struggle that
entitled them to break the rules, according to an internal report released
yesterday.

The unit "routinely made up its own rules and, for all intents and
purposes, was left to function with little or no oversight," said the
report from the Police Department's Board of Inquiry.

The unit's rogue behavior became known as the "Rampart Way," referring to a
district near downtown considered the toughest in the city. The report,
released after a six-month investigation, concluded the unit "developed its
own culture and operated as an entity unto itself."

The scandal has centered on allegations by former officer Rafael Perez that
officers in the unit beat, framed and shot suspects. The scandal has led to
40 convictions being overturned and 20 officers being relieved of duty.

Authorities have estimated the financial toll on the city could exceed $125
million. Perez was sentenced last week to five years in prison for cocaine
theft.

The report recommended 108 changes in department policies and procedures,
but the board blamed the scandal on individual officers and supervisors
rather than problems with the rules.

In one incident at the end of riots in 1992, a supervisor found the unit's
members playing cards and working out when they should have been on patrol.
Two days after complaining to a superior, the supervisor found the tires on
his car slashed, the report said. He bought a new set, and they were
slashed.

"We think this is a very exhaustive investigation of our systems, our
management style, our issues that we think may have caused the opportunity
for this issue of corruption in Rampart," Police Chief Bernard C. Parks
said at a news conference yesterday.

The report blamed poor paperwork, lax supervision and poor understanding of
police rules and policies. Mostly, it was a case of "people failing to do
their jobs."

Parks earlier said a shortage of supervisors was partly to blame and
recommended a $9 million reform package. It includes expanding the use of
lie detectors and strengthening other procedures to weed out bad recruits.

Parks said the problems revolved around a small group of people, and the
"other 13,000 members of this department should not be broad-brushed."
Those employees, he said, will work "as hard as we can to bring back the
luster to the Los Angeles Police Department badge."