L.A. EYES TOBACCO WINDFALL TO PAY POLICE CORRUPTION LIABILITIES

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 - In yet another sign of how this city is reeling from
a massive police corruption scandal, Mayor Richard Riordan today proposed
using much of the $300 million it expects from settlements with tobacco
companies to pay for lawsuits stemming from police abuse.

Nine more convictions linked to the widening police scandal were overturned
in court today at the request of Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil
Garcetti, who said the police department is in a "huge mess."

Garcetti's move brings the number of criminal convictions thrown out since
the scandal broke last fall to 40. Dozens more cases may be overturned soon
because they could be tainted or fake, the result of police officers
framing suspects, falsifying arrest reports and lying under oath at
criminal trials.

Today's developments capped another dismal week for city leaders as they
struggle to come to grips with the magnitude of the scandal. In the Rampart
precinct, which is close to downtown and overrun with gangs, dozens of
officers are under investigation for allegedly planting drugs or weapons on
suspects and in some instances shooting or beating them even though they
were unarmed.

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has begun bickering publicly with Garcetti
over the pace and scope of the probe into the scandal, and he also is
facing tough new questions from some elected officials. Meanwhile, a
growing chorus of civic groups is calling for the investigation to be taken
away from the police department and handed to an outside panel.

Just settling lawsuits from the scandal could cost at least $125 million,
city officials say. Under Riordan's new proposal, which needs City Council
approval, Los Angeles would set aside some or all of the money it is
expected to receive over the next two decades from the landmark national
settlement states have made with tobacco companies to recover the costs of
health problems associated with their products.

The city has been hoping to spend its share of the settlement on
anti-smoking campaigns and other health programs. But the mayor said that
diverting it to cover liability from the police scandal may be the only way
to avoid substantial budget cuts in other city services.

"This is the best use of these dollars," Riordan announced at a news
conference. "Though we have no way of knowing the dollar amount, we must
expect and prepare for tens of millions of dollars in liability."

On Wednesday, Parks, who already has said that nearly 100 people may have
been framed by rogue officers, told the City Council that the force is
riddled with supervision and training problems. Some officers who are under
investigation, he said, would have never been hired if department
procedures had been followed.

"How could this go on?" Parks asked at the hearing. "It's generally a lack
of oversight by command supervision all the way up through the department."

The department may issue a full report on the scandal early next month, he
said.

About 20 police officers have been fired, suspended or have quit because of
their alleged roles in the corruption. Most were part of an elite squad the
department enlisted to crack down on gangs. Many of the victims of the
alleged police abuse are onetime gang members who have remained in prison,
even though a tainted conviction was overturned, because they were
convicted of other serious crimes.

So far, five people have been set free because of the probe, which is
focused on one former officer, Rafael Perez. In exchange for a lenient
sentence on cocaine charges, he has been providing investigators with
shocking tales of rampant corruption inside the department.

Garcetti also said today that he is expanding the investigation team he has
working on the scandal to 19 prosecutors and staff members, but some City
Council members called that insufficient.

In a motion filed this week calling for the formation of a citizen panel to
investigate the police force, Councilman Joel Wachs said that the scandal
"may well be the most serious man-made disaster our city has ever faced."