CITY BACKS POLICE COMMISSION RAMPART PROBE

Six months after the Rampart Division scandal erupted, Los Angeles
officials stood together for the first time Tuesday and supported the
LAPD investigation and Police Commission review process in the face of
calls for independent probes of the LAPD.

"What you are seeing is a landmark event in the history of Los
Angeles," Mayor Richard Riordan said at a news conference after
appearing before the City Council with Police Chief Bernard C. Parks
and Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff.

"We are standing together to support the Christopher Commission
reforms and an independent civilian investigation by our Police
Commission."

As Riordan was making his rare appearance before the council, the
chorus of demands for appointment of an independent blue-ribbon
commission to investigate the Rampart scandal was reaching a crescendo.

But the council, on a 15-0 vote, chose to heed the call and agreed to
provide the Police Commission with whatever resources it needs --
estimated at somewhere in the range of $1 million -- to hire staffers
to analyze the Los Angeles Police Department's Board of Inquiry
report, due within two weeks.

Ferraro and other council leaders then joined Riordan, Parks and
Chaleff at the news conference in an unusual show of unity.

It was an extraordinary day of official Los Angeles moving from the
Police Commission to the City Council to contain the investigation
prompted by statements from former Officer Rafael Perez that he and
members of the anti-gang Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
unit beat and shot suspected gang members, planted evidence on them
and testified falsely to get them convicted.

Among the developments:

Parks said he will release his several-hundred-page Board of Inquiry
report to the Police Commission by March 1. He said it contains more
than 100 recommendations for reform.

Parks said criminal investigators are prepared to move beyond the
testimony of Perez and look at other officers who might be involved in
misconduct.

Councilman Joel Wachs called for an independent panel of jurists,
civil and religious leaders to examine what happened at the Rampart
Division and what can be done to avert future problems.

Councilwoman Laura Chick called for a review of the LAPD's Internal
Affairs group to explore whether a more independent unit is needed to
ferret out corrupt cops or unjustified shootings.

State Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, said he is looking at filing a
federal civil rights lawsuit against the LAPD to control the anti-gang
CRASH units, as well as asking for federal and state investigators to
oversee whatever findings come from the LAPD. He also joined a call by
the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California to have an
independent panel review the Board of Inquiry report.

Riordan spoke out strongly in favor of keeping the investigation in
the hands of the Police Commission as the first test of the
Christopher Commission reforms adopted after the March 1991 police
beating of African-American motorist Rodney King.

"We have a system in place for civilian oversight and we should use
that," Riordan told the City Council.

The mayor also complained about the slow pace at which the District
Attorney's Office is moving on information provided by the LAPD on
potential criminal filings.

"Sometimes you seek perfection and it's not there," Riordan said. "The
seeking of perfection can sometimes delay things until they never get
done."

The Board of Inquiry Report, originally scheduled to be released in
November or December, took a look at the entire Police Department's
operating structure and into how failures could occur, leading to what
allegedly happened in the Rampart Division. It is separate from the
criminal investigation.

"If there is blame, it goes from the newest officer on the street up
to the chief of police," Parks said. "There is enough blame to go
around for all of us in the Police Department. Our systems fell apart
and we are all facing responsibility for this issue.

"None of us likes this. None of us likes waking up and reading what
we're reading. I've been in this department 35 years and I will not
let Rafael Perez be the symbol of the LAPD."

The meeting also gave City Council members an opportunity to vent
their frustration over the scandal, the length of time the inquiry has
taken and what it has done to the image of the city.

"This is an outrage and an insult to the people of this city,"
Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said. "It's like someone has stuck a thumb
in the eye of the city."

Councilwoman Rita Walters said it appeared to be "a serial eruption of
crises" involving the LAPD.

Councilman Mike Hernandez said he was concerned the council and the
city were losing sight of the real problems in the city.

"In my district of Westlake-Pico Union, people there are more
concerned about reducing crime," Hernandez said. "Yes, there is
concern over this, but there is concern over crime rates."

Riordan noted it was the department itself that caught Perez for
stealing drugs from a police evidence locker and eventually got him to
talk in exchange for leniency.

Parks said he believes the report by the Board of Inquiry, conducted
by command officers, and the subsequent review by the Police
Commission will end up restoring public confidence in the LAPD.

"But in the end, public confidence will be restored by how we do our
job every day," Parks said.

Wachs, a candidate for mayor, said he believes public confidence will
be restored only with an independent review.

"The Rampart scandal may well be the most serious man-made disaster
our city has ever faced," Wachs said.

"Think about the horrors. People killed, framed, imprisoned and beaten
by the very people we've entrusted to protect us from such criminal
behavior. The Rampart scandal has scarred the city and tarnished the
reputations of an internationally renowned department."

Wachs wants all aspects of the scandal examined, including how such a
disregard for the law and the truth could develop, whether there is a
culture within the LAPD to cover up such incidents, and whether the
District Attorney's Office and City Attorney's Office failed to act
properly.

Even though the proposal will not be formally discussed until next
week, Councilman Mike Feuer said he would oppose such a plan.

"We should let our system work," Feuer said. "Doing this would be a
diminution of the Police Commission and its authority."