LOS ANGELES POLICE UNION SEEKS INQUIRY

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 - In an extraordinary step that reflected the
plummeting public confidence in the Los Angeles Police Department over a
growing corruption scandal, the union representing police officers undercut
the department's chief today and demanded an independent investigation of
the growing evidence of police brutality.

The union noted that since its creation in 1925 it had never advocated an
outside investigation of the department. But it said such a step was needed
now because the scandal had so tainted the department, as reports emerged
that corrupt officers framed perhaps several hundred people and in at least
two instances shot unarmed suspects and then planted guns on them.

The announcement was also a political shot at the chief of police, Bernard
C. Parks, who has fought any outside interference but is now clearly losing
the confidence of his uniformed officers, some of whom have said they fear
the chief may make some of the wrongdoers scapegoats and not thoroughly
investigate the department's senior officers.

The Police Department has established an internal Board of Inquiry,
composed of top officers, that has been investigating the scandal for
several months separately from the criminal investigation at the district
attorney's office. The Board of Inquiry is expected to deliver its report
to the police commission, a civilian oversight body, on March 1.

Mr. Parks did not comment on the announcement, and Cmdr. David Kalish, the
department spokesman, did not return calls seeking comment.

"This represents a great leap forward for the police union and it's also
the first step in reinforcing to the public that restoring the credibility
of the Police Department is our single biggest priority," said Ted Hunt,
the president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents
about 9,500 officers.

In addition, the City Council considered a motion today to create an
outside entity to investigate the scandal. Joel Wachs, a councilman who is
running for mayor, proposed that the city consider such a body to ensure
that the police brutality was being thoroughly investigated, particularly
the accusations of culpability by the department's top officers.

His motion was voted down, 8 to 6, but several other members of the Council
said that over the past week a more militant mood had developed as
confidence in the police chief tumbled and concern grew over the extent of
the brutality.

"How could this go on so long and be so bad and nobody at the top knew
about it?" Mr. Wachs asked in an interview. "It just doesn't pass the smell
test to do something from within."

He called the scandal "a moral and a financial crisis," and said that
politicians and the public were sobered by reports that the civil suits by
those unjustly imprisoned could cost the city $200 million or more.

The new mood marks a major shift, since politicians, especially the mayor,
had generally watched quietly since the first reports of corruption emerged
last September.

"I'm one of those whose views are evolving, particularly in the last week
or so," said Councilwoman Laura Chick, who voted for Mr. Wachs's motion.

Ms. Chick said she now believed that restoring public confidence in the
Police Department could not be achieved by the police commission alone.

The scandal began last September when a former officer, Rafael Perez,
agreed to disclose evidence of the corruption in return for a lighter
sentence in a case in which he admitted stealing about eight pounds of
cocaine from the department. He told how the police had framed scores of
innocent people, many of them gang members, and lied in court. In at least
two instances, Mr. Perez said, officers shot unarmed gang members, one
while he was handcuffed, and had then them framed on trumped-up charges.

Initially, the scandal was focused on Mr. Perez's old inner city station,
the Rampart Division, but evidence is emerging that the brutality may have
been more widespread.

More than 40 criminal cases have been overturned so far, with the police
saying that at least 99 have been tainted.