A 2ND RAMPART OFFICER TELLS OF CORRUPTION

A Los Angeles police officer who worked with Rafael Perez in the
Rampart Division's scandal-plagued CRASH unit corroborates the
disgraced officer-turned-informant's allegations that officers there,
acting with at least one supervisor's knowledge, planted evidence to
frame innocent people.

"Everybody [in Rampart CRASH] kind of knows it happens," said the
officer, who has been relieved of duty in connection with the
department's ongoing corruption investigation.

The officer, who spoke with The Times on the condition that he not be
named, said he was personally aware of unjustified shootings by other
Rampart officers that were covered up, and that the planting of drugs
on suspects was an accepted practice by some officers in the division.
The officer has not come forward for fear of losing his job over
failure to report the crimes and misconduct, a violation of
departmental policy.

He also said he could corroborate a number of the allegations made by
Perez, who has admitted that he and his former partners framed 99
people over three years.

If the officer were to cooperate with investigators, he could
considerably improve prosecutors' chances of making criminal cases
against allegedly corrupt officers. As it now stands, the
prosecution's star witness is Perez, an admitted drug thief and
perjurer whom jurors may not believe.

Other CRASH officers relieved of duty in connection with the scandal
and interviewed by The Times have denied any knowledge of wrongdoing
in Rampart.

Perez, 32, is cooperating with authorities in part to shave time off
his sentence for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from LAPD evidence
facilities while he worked as an officer in Rampart. So far, the
investigation includes allegations of unjustified shootings, beatings,
witness intimidation, evidence planting, false arrest and perjury.
Perez has implicated himself and former partner Nino Durden in dozens
of frame-ups, the most dramatic being the 1996 shooting of an unarmed
gang member who was left paralyzed and then falsely convicted of
attacking the officers. To date, 20 LAPD officers have been relieved
of duty, suspended without pay or fired or have quit in connection
with the scandal. Twenty-three criminal cases believed tainted by
Perez and his former partners have been thrown out of court and dozens
more are likely to follow.

On the advice of his attorney, the officer recently interviewed by The
Times declined to detail the alleged crimes and misconduct of his
colleagues. He said some Rampart officers carried stashes of drugs to
plant on suspects--usually gang members--who they believed were guilty
of crimes but who did not have drugs on them at the time they were
stopped. He talked about fellow CRASH officers dating "gang
associates." One officer, he said, took such a date to the Shortstop
bar, a popular police hangout on Sunset Boulevard near Dodger Stadium.

The officer's attorney, who was present during the two-hour interview,
described an incident one New Year's Eve in which Rampart officers
were working a gunfire suppression detail and found themselves in a
shootout with a group of men ranging in age from 18 to 51. Two of the
suspects were wounded.

"It was . . . hunting," the lawyer said, after being briefed on the
incident by his client. "More than likely these guys weren't shooting
at the officers."

Officers' shooting in that incident was found to be "in policy" in
1996 by the Police Commission and then-Chief Willie L. Williams. Three
of the officers involved have since been fired or relieved of duty in
the course of the Rampart investigation.

It is unclear whether that incident is among at least seven
"questionable" shootings under review by the LAPD's corruption task
force.

The officer said it was understood within the tightknit CRASH unit
that if there was a problem with an arrest, or even a shooting, the
involved officers would huddle to get their stories straight before
talking to supervisors. One sergeant, who has already been relieved of
duty in connection with the investigation, is accused of being
particularly willing to look the other way, giving officers' reports
little if any scrutiny before signing his name. An LAPD official has
characterized that sergeant as having been actively involved in
covering up unjustified shootings. He was "quarterbacking the whole
thing," the official said during an internal departmental briefing. In
the interview with The Times, the officer said it was clear after
Perez's arrest in August 1998 that he was not the only Rampart officer
in trouble.

Perez's attorney, Winston Kevin McKesson, said, "This and other
evidence substantiates the fact that Rafael Perez has been truthful
and forthright throughout this entire investigation."

McKesson called on authorities to honor the terms of his client's plea
agreement, which calls for a five-year sentence in exchange for his
cooperation, and to move up his Feb. 25 sentencing.

After Perez's arrest, the officer interviewed said, then-partner
Durden appeared extremely anxious, losing about 50 pounds in a matter
of months.

"He was a walking zombie," the officer said.