NARCOTICS OFFICER ARRESTED FOR HEROIN POSSESSION

LOS ANGELES - A 35-year Los Angeles Police veteran was arrested
for possession of a small amount of heroin in a case that Chief
Bernard Parks said was unrelated to an ongoing corruption
investigation involving cocaine theft and abuses in an anti-gang unit.

Narcotics Detective Richard Ginelli was jailed Thursday for possession
of a controlled substance and held on $10,000 bail after internal
affairs officers conducted a sting operation in response to
colleagues' suspicions about Ginelli, Parks announced at news
conference late Thursday.

"The sting involved placing some narcotics at a location to see if he
booked the full amount," said Parks, who has known Ginelli for 24
years. "It's a loss to the department -- another issue in which an
officer did not meet the standards, even an officer who had 35 years
of service."

The arrest came amid an ongoing corruption investigation that has
turned up allegations of abuses in the Rampart Division's anti-gang
unit. One officer, a former narcotics agent who has been convicted of
stealing $1 million worth of cocaine from a police evidence room, has
been fired, and 11 others have been relieved of duty with pay as a
result of the scandal.

The arrest of Ginelli, who worked in the Harbor Division some 25 miles
away, was unrelated, Parks said.

"Certainly our investigation ... because of thefts from evidence
caused us to look at all of our systems and then when (Rafael) Perez
was arrested..., certainly those incidents prompted us to move forward
in many areas," Parks said.

Internal affairs officers began investigating Ginelli after new
officers in his narcotics squad became suspicious about him and
disappearing evidence, Parks said without elaborating.

When Ginelli did not turn in a small amount of heroin recovered during
a search of a vehicle, which had been purported to belong to a
narcotics suspect, he was arrested.

"Having known this officer most of my career, he was not someone I
would speculate was involved in this activity," Parks said.

Ginelli said after his arrest that he took the narcotics for his
personal use and that no other officers or individuals were involved,
Parks said.