Pubdate: Wed, 23 Mar 2000 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2000 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg Manitoba R2X 3B6 Fax: (204) 697-7288 Feedback: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/letters_to_editor/index.html Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Author: Val Werier GRIM MESSAGE FROM L.A. POLICE SOME CALL it the biggest scandal in the history of Los Angeles and it has some application to most cities, including Winnipeg. The scandal is the corruption and lawlessness within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), described by critics as a story of malevolence and evil. I am not suggesting for a moment that Winnipeg police can be tarred with the same brush. In recent years, the image of Winnipeg police, in fact, has brightened with the appointment of chiefs of integrity, sensitive to the community. Police have a high rating in polls and face dirty and dangerous situations in their service to the public. But as in most centres, there is a resistance to outside independent investigation in cases of possible wrongdoing. One lesson from the L.A. scandal is that there must be accountability for abuse by police (for which there is a long history in L.A.) and that abuse of any kind must not be tolerated. There must be an instrument of independent civilian control, not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of the police, but to act as a public watchdog with the authority to deal with complaints. No other service in the community has the authority of the police, a pseudo-military force with the power to arrest and detain. This authority must not be abused. We know however that abuse does take place. The body that deals with complaints in Winnipeg, the provincial Law Enforcement Review Agency, is not effective, says Gordon Sinclair, Jr., Free Press columnist and author of Cowboys and Indians, who keeps a vigilant eye on the local scene. "It has no teeth," says Mr. Sinclair. "Rarely do complaints result in justice for the public." I found people were outraged and alarmed over police abuse in a recent visit to L.A. Reports showed that the LAPD anti-gang units framed innocent people and planted evidence to convict suspects. In one case, police handcuffed a 19-year-old, shot him, them planted a rifle on him to cover it up. The stories are hideous. After shooting a 21-year-old, police planted a gun on him. He bled to death while police discussed strategy with a supervisor to cover it up. Says the Los Angeles Times, discussing the culture of police violence: "An organized criminal sub-culture thrived within the Los Angeles Police Department, where a secret fraternity of anti-gang officers and supervisors committed crimes and celebrated shootings by awarding plaques to officers who wounded or killed people." Some say the revelations throw new light on the bizarre acquittal of O.J. Simpson. The jury accepted the defence argument that police had conspired to frame an innocent man, despite overwhelming evidence that Simpson was guilty of murder. Joseph P. Charney, deputy district attorney and adjutant professor of law at Loyola Law School, says those sworn to uphold the law have undermined the 200-year tenet of the justice system that "it is better to free 100 guilty people than to unjustly imprison an innocent person." Mr. Charney says: "The changing attitudes toward crime suppression and the politics of prosecution have eroded protection against erroneous conviction." "By taking advantage of the public fear of crime," he says, "and the media's infatuation with crime, opportunists have pushed through laws that increase the danger of convicting the innocent." One example is the brutal "three strikes law" which imposes life sentences after a third conviction of even relatively minor offenses. An accused, even though innocent, may plead guilty to a lesser charge offered by the prosecution to make certain they escape a life term. Says Mr. Charney: "What makes the three strike law even more likely to result in an innocent man pleading guilty is that draconian sentencing can be triggered by conviction on a minor drug charge." The scandal has revealed that police have planted drugs to frame the innocent. One issue today in L.A. is the make-up of the enquiry into the scandal. Police in L.A., as in most centres, insist that only the police are equipped to conduct investigations. It is patently absurd to have a body accused of wrongdoing investigate itself. It happens in Winnipeg, too. The media must play a part in exposing abuse. I think of the CBC's Fifth Estate, which in a fine documentary revealed the attempts of the head of the police association in Toronto to intimidate politicians and make the police a political force-a dangerous move in a democratic society. It is interesting to note that the Toronto Association went to the L.A. police for advice. Val Werier is a Winnipeg writer. His column appears on Thursdays. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck