News (Media Awareness Project) - US CA: LA Handed Price Tag For Police Corruption |
| Title: | US CA: LA Handed Price Tag For Police Corruption |
| Published On: | 2000-02-04 |
| Source: | Alameda Times-Star (CA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-05 04:35:11 |
L.A. HANDED PRICE TAG FOR POLICE CORRUPTION
LOS ANGELES - The city may have to pay out as much as $125 million in
settlements to people framed or injured by police officers involved in a
growing corruption scandal, the City Council was advised in a private session.
The estimate was given Wednesday by Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and a
deputy city attorney, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, citing
unidentified sources.
Council members gasped and sighed when Chief Deputy City Attorney Tim
McOsker told them to brace for a barrage of lawsuits.
"It's like a new type of natural disaster," said one source.
Parks told the council that one factor contributing to the scandal was the
rapid expansion of the police department, which he said strained training
and supervision.
Expansion has been a goal of Mayor Richard Riordan's administration. When
elected in 1993, he promised to add 3,000 officers to the department in
five years, and since he has taken office, the force's ranks have swelled
from 7,400 officers to 9,475.
Riordan declined to comment about a possible correlation between his
emphasis on increasing the number of police officers and problems in the
department.
The corruption probe was ignited by the arrest and prosecution of former
Officer Rafael Perez, a member of the Rampart station's anti-gang unit, for
stealing cocaine from an evidence room.
Cooperating with investigators in order to receive a lighter sentence, he
has alleged that officers made up evidence, lied in court to win
convictions on false charges, perjured themselves, assaulted and even shot
people.
Thirty-two criminal cases have been reversed as the result of the
investigation and 20 officers have either been relieved of duty, suspended,
fired or have quit.
A new case that has come under review involves a 1995 New Year's Eve
shooting in which two men were wounded by officers from Rampart's anti-gang
unit.
One of the two was firing bullets into the air at midnight to celebrate.
Officers said they were returning fire.
An officer who has been relieved of duty in connection with the probe told
the Times that the officers were not provoked by the revelers, but were
"hunting."
LOS ANGELES - The city may have to pay out as much as $125 million in
settlements to people framed or injured by police officers involved in a
growing corruption scandal, the City Council was advised in a private session.
The estimate was given Wednesday by Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and a
deputy city attorney, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, citing
unidentified sources.
Council members gasped and sighed when Chief Deputy City Attorney Tim
McOsker told them to brace for a barrage of lawsuits.
"It's like a new type of natural disaster," said one source.
Parks told the council that one factor contributing to the scandal was the
rapid expansion of the police department, which he said strained training
and supervision.
Expansion has been a goal of Mayor Richard Riordan's administration. When
elected in 1993, he promised to add 3,000 officers to the department in
five years, and since he has taken office, the force's ranks have swelled
from 7,400 officers to 9,475.
Riordan declined to comment about a possible correlation between his
emphasis on increasing the number of police officers and problems in the
department.
The corruption probe was ignited by the arrest and prosecution of former
Officer Rafael Perez, a member of the Rampart station's anti-gang unit, for
stealing cocaine from an evidence room.
Cooperating with investigators in order to receive a lighter sentence, he
has alleged that officers made up evidence, lied in court to win
convictions on false charges, perjured themselves, assaulted and even shot
people.
Thirty-two criminal cases have been reversed as the result of the
investigation and 20 officers have either been relieved of duty, suspended,
fired or have quit.
A new case that has come under review involves a 1995 New Year's Eve
shooting in which two men were wounded by officers from Rampart's anti-gang
unit.
One of the two was firing bullets into the air at midnight to celebrate.
Officers said they were returning fire.
An officer who has been relieved of duty in connection with the probe told
the Times that the officers were not provoked by the revelers, but were
"hunting."
Member Comments |
No member comments available...
