L.A. POLICE UNIT ALLEGEDLY REWARDED WRONGFUL SHOOTINGS

Inside informer describes criminal clique of officers

LOS ANGELES -- A criminal clique within the Los Angeles Police
Department gave plaques to honor officers who shot people, says a
disgraced former officer whose allegations are at the heart of a
scandal that has led to the overturning of more than 30 verdicts.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that it had obtained 2,000
pages of transcripts including 50 hours of interviews with former
Officer Rafael Perez.

Thirty-two criminal cases have been reversed as a result of the
investigation and 20 officers have been relieved of duty, suspended or
fired or have quit.

Perez told investigators more than 30 current and former anti-gang
officers at the Rampart station were "in the loop" and routinely broke
the law by either committing crimes or covering them up, according to
the transcripts.

One document said more than 70 officers are under investigation for
either committing crimes or covering up criminal activity, the
newspaper said.

The number suggests a police scandal more serious than previously
disclosed.

Perez is a former member of the Community Resources Against Street
Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit.

The scandal came to light in September when he pleaded guilty to
stealing 8 pounds of cocaine from an evidence locker.

"I'm going to make a very broad statement. And you're not going to
like it," Perez told investigators shortly after agreeing to a plea
bargain. "I would say that 90 percent of the officers who work CRASH,
and not just Rampart CRASH, falsify a lot of information. They put
cases on people. It hurts me to say it, but there's a lot of crooked
stuff going on in the LAPD."

Shortly after Perez entered his plea, Javier Francisco Ovando was set
free from prison. Perez said he and a former partner handcuffed
Ovando, shot him and planted a gun on him, then lied about the
confrontation in court. Ovando, paralyzed in the shooting, was
sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Perez told investigators that Rampart CRASH officers did not mind such
shootings, in fact celebrated them and even handed out awards, the
newspaper said.

"The plaque that you probably saw in my house you know what that
plaque is even about?" Perez asked the investigators. He said a
sergeant gave him the CRASH plaque, with a red heart playing card and
two bullets, for shooting Ovando. He said the plaques had black cards
if the suspect died.