L.A.'S UNGOVERNABLE POLICE

Los Angeles is not the only American city that has problems with its police
department, but the L.A.P.D. seems uniquely hospitable to rogue cops and
uniquely resistant to reform. Only eight years after the Rodney King
episode, the city is suffering a new scandal that has led to charges of
perjury, evidence tampering and attempted murder, and attracted the
attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States
attorney and California's attorney general. A report released yesterday by
the Police Department acknowledged that a "breakdown" in supervision had
led to the scandal. But the report perpetuates the myth that the department
can police itself.

The department inspired national outrage in 1991 when several officers were
captured on videotape savagely beating Mr. King. Soon afterward a
blue-ribbon panel, the Christopher commission, urged a "major overhaul" of
the Police Department and urged the appointment of an independent inspector
general who would have broad powers to investigate abuses.

But Los Angeles has shown little commitment to changing the way the Police
Department is monitored and run. The first inspector general, Katherine
Mader, resigned after a mere three years in office, complaining of
interference from police officials. The strong inspector envisioned by the
commission has yet to emerge.

The latest scandal came to light last September when a former officer,
Rafael Perez, was being prosecuted for stealing several pounds of cocaine
from the department's evidence room. Investigators pressed Mr. Perez to
expose other officers who were involved in the drug trade and were
surprised when he gave them a detailed account of how the L.A.P.D.'s
anti-gang unit went about its business. He said his colleagues routinely
framed innocent gang members, lied in court, and occasionally shot and
planted weapons on unarmed people. Shockingly, Mr. Perez said that officers
and supervisors celebrated shootings by awarding plaques to officers who
wounded or killed people.

Investigators say the revelations of false evidence have tainted hundreds
of convictions. About 70 officers are said to be under investigation and 40
cases have been overturned - with many more sure to follow - and the city
has prepared itself to pay out $200 million in legal settlements.

The Los Angeles County district attorney, Gil Garcetti, has assembled an
impressive task force and says he has the investigation firmly in hand. The
Los Angeles police Chief, Bernard Parks, made a similar declaration
yesterday, asserting in a department report that current protocols for
handling corruption complaints were "generally sufficient" to get the job
done.

But what appears to be a feud between Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Parks - as well
as plummeting public confidence in the police - have prompted federal and
state authorities to step into the case. Both Mr. Garcetti and Mr. Parks
have denied the existence of a turf war. But given the city's mediocre
record of policing its own police, federal intervention may be exactly what
is needed to get to the bottom of a deep, systemic problem.