Mayor Richard Riordan's office and the City Council clashed sharply Wednesday over how to pay hundreds of millions of dollars the city could owe from judgments and settlements arising from the L.A. police corruption scandal. The council's Budget and Finance Committee urged rejection of the mayor's proposal - to sell $300 million due the city over 25 years as its share of the national tobacco lawsuit case, for about $100 million now. The panel recommended instead the council take a go-slow approach by immediately setting aside $23 million into a special fund that would be increased over the years. If needed, the city then could issue judgment bonds. [continues 690 words]
The district attorney's criminal investigation into the Los Angeles Police Department scandal has identified at least 10 Rampart Division cops and other officers as suspects, sources close to the probe said Wednesday. Sparks fly over Rampart cost The officers, named in federal court motions, are under suspicion for a myriad of crimes, including evidence planting, perjury, assaults and attempted murder, according to the sources. The motions were filed this week to delay trial of civil cases growing out of the scandal in which officers allegedly abused suspects and planted evidence on them, leading to wrongful convictions of dozens and possibly hundreds of people. Prosecutors argued that the delay is justified to allow the criminal investigation to move forward. [continues 838 words]
LOS ANGELES, March 1 - The leadership of the Los Angles police today revealed that the worst corruption scandal in the history of the department was caused, in large part, by its own poor management and a culture of mediocrity - creating the very conditions necessary for dirty cops to run wild. In the past five months, the LAPD and Los Angeles have been rocked by revelations that a cadre of rogue officers in an anti-gang unit operating in the city's toughest neighborhood planted evidence, beat handcuffed gang members, lied under oath and shot unarmed suspects 96 all during the city's highly publicized war on gangs during the 1990s. [continues 733 words]
MANATEE COUNTY - When several members of Manatee County's Delta Division drug task force picked victims to rob or frame with false charges, they chose women and minorities. The reason: The white officers thought no one would believe their victims. "It appears the wrongdoers in Delta picked their victims well," said Bradenton defense attorney Mark Lipinski, who represents several of the victims. "Let's face it, the people they chose were easy pickings." Over at least a three-year period, ending in 1998, the deputies, assigned to road patrol and the Delta Division, targeted Hispanics for shakedowns during traffic stops and blacks and women during drug arrests, according to state and federal court records. [continues 455 words]
The Los Angeles Police Department has been rocked by allegations of massive illegalities centered in its gang-plagued Rampart Division. At least 21 officers have either left the force or been placed on suspension pending investigation of charges that cops planted evidence, intimidated witnesses, and covered up unjustified shootings and beatings. At least 40 criminal convictions have already been overturned, and many more may be. Last week Rafael Perez, the rogue cop whose confession kicked off this scandal, was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing eight pounds of cocaine. [continues 647 words]
A sharply divided Los Angeles City Council rebuffed a proposal on Tuesday to create a new independent panel to look at the Rampart Division scandal, saying it wanted to wait to see what is developed by the Los Angeles Police Department and what steps are taken by the Police Commission. The 8-6 vote against the proposal from Councilman Joel Wachs, however, did not not kill it outright. Instead it was sent to the council's Public Safety Committee -- on which Wachs serves -- for review at a later time. [continues 879 words]
Sought for their independence from Los Angeles' political culture, the FBI and U.S. Justice Department have joined the LAPD corruption investigation team to examine possible civil rights violations, officials said Wednesday. "As we transition into the next stage, it is important for us to look at the most significant issues, which we believe are the potential civil rights violations," Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said at a Parker Center news conference with Mayor Richard Riordan, District Attorney Gil Garcetti and federal law enforcement officials. [continues 1084 words]
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has proposed a scandalous way to pay the costs of the city's police corruption scandal. To cover the anticipated hundreds of millions of dollars in damage awards to those wrongly imprisoned, or even shot by rogue cops, Riordan would tap the city's share of the national tobacco settlement -- for the next 25 years. Police in the city's Rampart Division planted evidence, provided false testimony, staged crime scenes and shot unarmed suspects. As a result, at least 20 officers have quit or been relieved of duty, suspended or fired. Forty convictions have been thrown out by prosecutors. The convictions of at least 100 defendants are in question. [continues 178 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor Richard Riordan recommended Thursday that Los Angeles set aside its entire $300 million share of the national tobacco settlement to cover lawsuits brought by victims of the city's police corruption scandal. "This is the best use of these dollars," Riordan said at a news conference. "Though we have no way of knowing the dollar amount, we must expect and prepare for tens of millions of dollars of liability." The mayor said the move would safeguard against possible cuts in city services or new taxes. [continues 327 words]
LOS ANGELES -- Mayor Richard Riordan recommended yesterday that Los Angeles set aside its share of the national tobacco settlement -- up to $300 million -- to cover lawsuits brought by victims of the city's police corruption scandal. "This is the best use of these dollars," Riordan said at a news conference. "Though we have no way of knowing the dollar amount, we must expect and prepare for tens of millions of dollars of liability." The mayor said the move would safeguard against possible cuts in city services or new taxes. [continues 264 words]
LOS ANGELES - Overworked supervisors missed signs that should have tipped them to corruption in a local police station, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks says. Moreover, at least four officers linked to the scandal never should have been hired because they had been arrested or had outstanding debts, Parks said. "There's generally a lack of oversight by command supervision going all the way up through the department," Parks said Wednesday, outlining the department's widening investigation of the scandal to the City Council. [continues 371 words]
Karen o'Dell rubbed her hands as she sat in court in Manatee County on Tuesday morning, waiting for an extended nightmare to end. She didn't have to wait long. In less than two minutes, a circuit judge overturned o'Dell's convictions, wiping away a legal mess she said had wrecked her life. Arrested on what she says was planted evidence, O'Dell has a criminal record and has served a year of probation for crimes she swears she didn't commit. [continues 747 words]
Six months after the Rampart Division scandal erupted, Los Angeles officials stood together for the first time Tuesday and supported the LAPD investigation and Police Commission review process in the face of calls for independent probes of the LAPD. "What you are seeing is a landmark event in the history of Los Angeles," Mayor Richard Riordan said at a news conference after appearing before the City Council with Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff. "We are standing together to support the Christopher Commission reforms and an independent civilian investigation by our Police Commission." [continues 986 words]
The tilt toward police and prosecutors has created a political environment in which corruption can take hold. Los Angeles' spreading police corruption scandal is not surprising in light of the way the justice system has been dangerously tilted in favor of police and prosecutors. We must take stock of what has happened and restore some balance before it is too late. First up on the agenda must be to make sure that only the most talented and ethical officers are permitted to supervise and lead other officers. After graduation from the Police Academy, the formal training of rookie cops is over and the real-world mentoring by training officers and more experienced partners gets underway. The sergeants who supervise these officers set the tone by what they will tolerate and where they draw the line. Unless we put our focus on these leaders, there is no realistic assurance that systemic corruption can ever be controlled at its source. [continues 516 words]
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 - A long-simmering corruption scandal has widened to encompass a broad swath of the Los Angeles Police Department, with the district attorney saying today that his office has now found more than 40 people who were wrongly prosecuted, and in several cases shot, through police misconduct. The district attorney, Gil Garcetti, also said in a news conference that the investigation had now spread beyond the inner-city station where it began. Mr. Garcetti said prosecutors would soon go to court to ask that another 6 to 10 convictions be thrown out and that the victims be released. Thirty-two cases have already been overturned. [continues 720 words]
Police: In scathing report on scandal, chief blames lax oversight and says 'deplorable circumstances' will recur unless sweeping measures are taken. In a stinging indictment of his own department, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has told the Police Commission that lax oversight and poor adherence to departmental policies helped "corruption to flourish" in the LAPD. Parks' critical evaluation is contained in a report that the commission will take up Tuesday. In it, the chief says he needs at least $9 million and hundreds of new positions next year alone to fix the problems brought to light by the ongoing Rampart Division corruption scandal. [continues 1200 words]
Rampart: Seven adults and two juveniles have cases thrown out because of officers' alleged misdeeds. Latest overturned convictions are the first not directly linked to informant Rafael Perez. A judge Tuesday reversed the convictions of nine more people allegedly framed by officers in the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. Seven adults and two juveniles had their cases thrown out by Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler, bringing the number of convictions set aside as a consequence of the ongoing police corruption scandal to 32. [continues 551 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge dismissed the convictions of seven adults and two juveniles on Tuesday, the latest criminal cases reversed as the result of a police corruptions scandal in which officers are accused of framing innocent people. The latest dismissals included the first cases not directlyl involving former police Officer Rafael Perez who broke the scandal open with his allegations that officers at the city's Rampart Division fabricated evidence and lied in court to win convictions on phony charges. In some cases, he said, innocent people were even shot. [continues 90 words]
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. [continues 700 words]
COURTS: In all, 22 involving police misconduct have been dismissed. LOS ANGELES -- In the latest aftershock from a police scandal that has shaken Los Angeles, a judge Tuesday dismissed 10 drug and weapons convictions because they were tainted by corruption. That brought to 22 the number of cases thrown out because of police misconduct. The scandal is "the most important case I have seen this office handle in my 31 years here. It goes to the heart of the criminal justice system," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who sought the dismissals. [continues 289 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the latest aftershock from a scandal that has shaken Los Angeles, a judge Tuesday dismissed 10 drug and weapons convictions because they were tainted by police corruption. That brought to 22 the number of cases thrown out because of police misconduct. The scandal is "the most important case I have seen this office handle in my 31 years here. It goes to the heart of the criminal justice system," said Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, who sought the dismissals. [continues 532 words]
Courts: All but two individuals were out on probation or parole. A judge on Tuesday overturned the convictions of 10 people who were allegedly framed by officers from the LAPD's Rampart Division, bringing the number of cases that have been thrown out in the wake of an ongoing corruption investigation to 23. The convictions were vacated after former officer-turned-informant Rafael Perez told authorities that he and his then-partner Nino Durden falsified arrest reports, planted evidence and perjured themselves in court. [continues 742 words]
Corruption: Alleged crimes range from assault to perjury in Rampart scandal, sources say. Police spokesman cites desire to move quickly on cases. Los Angeles Police Department officials have asked Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti to file criminal charges against three officers suspected of crimes ranging from assault under color of authority to perjury in connection with the ongoing Rampart corruption probe, sources said Friday. Detectives on a special corruption task force have presented prosecutors with their cases against officers Nino Durden, Brian Hewitt and Michael Buchanan, a source familiar with the investigation said. [continues 925 words]
The news bite last week was that former Los Angeles policeman at the center of the LAPD scandal will have his sentencing on a conviction for stealing cocaine from an evidence locker delayed while authorities seek more corroboration of allegations he has made about fellow officers. The bigger story continues to unfold, undermining respect for what had been, until this decade, one of the most respected police forces in the country. The case ought to cause soul-searching and perhaps some quiet investigation within police forces throughout the country. [continues 371 words]
An independent review of every case is the only way to resolve the scandal involving the Rampart Division. How many innocent people are imprisoned because of false testimony by Los Angeles police officers? Officers in the Rampart Division's CRASH anti-gang unit now are known to have planted evidence and perjured themselves to gain convictions. Adequate steps must be taken immediately to identify those individuals who might have been convicted or persuaded to plead guilty because of police corruption. Unfortunately, the actions taken so far seem woefully insufficient. There can be no doubt that the burden is on the County of Los Angeles and the district attorney's office to ensure that no person remains in custody because of police wrongdoing. Nothing is more abhorrent in a society that believes in the rule of law than innocent people being imprisoned because of police officers lying and planting evidence. It is horrifying to know that there are people in prison, with every aspect of their lives in shambles, solely because of lies by police officers. [continues 535 words]
Police: Officials Fear Frame-ups Went Beyond Informant Perez And His Partner And May Invalidate Hundreds Of Arrests. Authorities increasingly suspect that frame-ups in the Los Angeles Police Department's troubled Rampart Division went beyond then-partners Rafael Perez and Nino Durden, and now are investigating allegations that another officer planted drugs on a man and then committed perjury to send him to prison. The framing of Walter Rivas, a reputed gang member, allegedly was carried out by Officer Michael Buchanan. "Who do you think they are going to believe, are they going to believe you or me?" Rivas quoted Buchanan as saying shortly after Rivas' 1998 arrest. [continues 907 words]
Courts: Man says he was held on false drug charge. Both policemen, who are not linked to Rampart scandal, have since left the department. Allegations that officers planted evidence spread to another Los Angeles Police Department division Wednesday in a lawsuit accusing two officers of falsely arresting a man. It also alleges that one of the officers committed perjury to put the man in prison. Jimmy Lee Render, 33, filed suit in federal court over his Nov. 2, 1997, arrest. He alleges that Officers Christopher Coppock and David Cochrane, both of the Central Division, taunted him after he denied having drugs, put him in a patrol car and told him that when he got to the station, "he was going to have some drugs." [continues 799 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Far more than previously estimated, as many as 3,000 criminal cases are under review in a police corruption probe that already has freed four defendants from state prison, the county public defender's office said Wednesday. The office has received case files for 10 of the 12 officers who have been relieved of duty in the scandal. The estimate of 3,000 cases represents the number those officers handled during the past 10 years, Assistant Public Defender Robert Kalunian said. [continues 232 words]
Pick a cliche that applies: reaping what's been sown, making your bed then lying in it, chickens coming home to roost. Home to the Rampart Division. Home to the LAPD. Home to the courtroom. Already, in the noxious wake of the Rampart bad-cop scandal, the L.A. city attorney's office is noting an uptick in acquittals and hung juries, a few more jurors telling prosecutors they just didn't believe the cops in the witness box. Two streets over, in the district attorney's office, some prosecutors are beginning to come back from court with tales of defense attorneys tearing with renewed zest into police credibility, like a mongoose after a cobra. [continues 783 words]
The LAPD's deepening Rampart Division scandal involving corrupt officers has yet to spur deep concerns among many Angelenos. Yet no one who cares about this community can afford to be dismissive of allegations that could not be more serious. These are not penny-ante charges. The investigation of the scandal to date has uncovered evidence of beatings, unwarranted shootings by officers, cops dealing drugs, witness intimidation, planted evidence, perjury and other crimes and forms of police misconduct. Big deal, some say. There are more than 9,500 sworn officers and only 13 current or former officers are under suspicion so far. That could mean the actions of just 13 officers are tainting an entire police force. Of course any scandal within a large organization must be kept in perspective. But the community must not lose sight of what is at stake in police misconduct cases. Police officers are agents of the state who are given extraordinary powers in order to preserve law and order. The Constitution gives due process to everyone accused of a crime, not just those with good jobs and clean records. And the fact is, this alleged police misconduct was committed against people who for the most part were suspected or known gang members. These are not people who generate sympathy or admiration. Consider, for example, some of those whose convictions have been overturned because of the scandal: one in custody on an unrelated murder charge; another a parole violator. Not model Angelenos, to be sure. Some L.A. residents then have shrugged, saying, in effect: Who cares if a few officers play a little fast and loose with the truth and plant some evidence on thugs? The officers got some really bad guys off the street. More power to them. [continues 152 words]
Under the leadership of Charlie Wells, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has enjoyed a reputation for integrity and professionalism. It may take a long time, however, for the department to overcome the shame brought upon it by rogue members of its once-elite Delta Division. An ongoing federal probe into the anti-drug task force is detailing how deputies on a poorly supervised Delta team stole from suspects, planted evidence, falsified documents and more. Two former Delta deputies, Paul D. Maass and Wayne V. Wyckoff, pleaded guilty to civil rights violations and other crimes, and a third, Tommy C. Wooten, faces a charge of tampering with a federal witness. Prosecutors say more Delta officers may face indictments soon. Yesterday, a corrections officer, Chris Moore, was charged in connection with an arson case involving Maass. [continues 176 words]
A second prison inmate authorities now believe was framed by corrupt officers of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division is expected to be freed from custody this week, while another will be released from parole and yet another will be ordered resentenced, according to sources close to the ongoing corruption probe. The three are among as many as 40 convicted individuals whose trials authorities believe may have been tainted by Rampart officers' misconduct. Two other men, who currently are fugitives, will have pending criminal charges against them dismissed, sources added. [continues 704 words]
TAMPA - A former Manatee County sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges related to an ongoing investigation involving the department's narcotics unit. Paul Dean Maass,q 26, of Bradenton was charged last month with conspiracy to violate civil rights, civil rights violations and drug charges. Prosecutors say Maass admitted that he and other members of the sheriff's Delta Task Force planted evidence and framed suspects. Maass pleaded guilty to all counts and could face up to 51 years in federal prison and $2.5 million in fines. However, he has agreed to help prosecutors in return for the government recom mending reduced penalties. [continues 117 words]
(TAMPA) - Federal prosecutors charge two former Manatee County sheriff's deputies with civil rights violations. Two former Manatee County sheriff's officers have admitted that they and other members of the department's elite narcotics unit planted evidence and framed suspects, federal prosecutors said late Friday. Paul Dean Maass, 26, has been charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights, civil rights violations and drug charges. Prosecutors say Maass admitted that he and other Delta Task Force agents, among other things, planted crack cocaine on a Bradenton woman who later was convicted of state felony charges for possession of those drugs. [continues 386 words]
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Allegations that rogue cops shot unarmed suspects, planted evidence and lied about it will be scrutinized by a special board of inquiry, Police Chief Bernard Parks said Tuesday. The probe also led a judge to suspend an injunction against the 18th Street gang that barred the gang from gathering. The injunction was based on declarations by some of the same officers now caught up in the corruption case. Deputy District Attorney David Demerjian said 15 people have been arrested for violating the injunction. He claimed the quality of life in the community will deteriorate as soon as gangs hear it was stayed. [continues 109 words]
Wide-Ranging Corruption Is Alleged LOS ANGELES -- Allegations that rogue cops shot unarmed suspects, planted evidence and lied about it will be scrutinized by a special board of inquiry, Police Chief Bernard Parks said Tuesday. The probe also led a judge to suspend an injunction against the 18th Street gang that barred the gang from gathering. The injunction was based on declarations by some of the same officers now caught up in the corruption case. Deputy District Attorney David Demerjian said 15 people have been arrested for violating the injunction. He claimed the quality of life in the community will deteriorate as soon as gangs hear it was stayed. [continues 466 words]
Street Cops Accused Of Frame-Ups In Widening Scandal By the end of last week, the scandal swirling around the Los Angeles Police Department was being called the city's worst since the 1930's. But the bad cops of that era, who took bribes of French champagne from madams and cash from bootleggers and gamblers, almost seem like nostalgic Humphrey Bogart types compared with the officers who ruined the life of a 19-year-old kid named Javier Francisco Ovando. [continues 509 words]
Lawbreaking force needs civilian overseer: report The provincial government has to set up a civilian body to overhaul the Surete du Quebec, a backward and disorganized police force that routinely breaks the law during criminal investigations, is engaged in turf wars with other police forces and lacks professionalism in the way it does police work, a public inquiry has concluded. The Poitras commission's 1,700-page report, made public yesterday, calls for a sweeping reform of the 3,900-member police force, including the appointment of a seven-member civilian body to oversee the SQ's activities. [continues 1393 words]
WASHINGTON -- The United States measures other countries against a lofty ideal when it comes to human rights, but it frequently violates these standards within its own borders, Amnesty International contends. From prisoners forced to wear shock-emitting stun belts to police who beat suspects without cause, the 153-page report provides the group's first comprehensive look at human rights violations in the United States. Amnesty International accuses the United States of maintaining a double standard: criticizing other countries while not abiding by international treaties and principles of human rights itself. The United States, for example, has failed to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which seeks to promote human rights for children. [continues 591 words]
Amnesty International Report Cites Violations by Prisons, Police The United States measures other countries against a lofty ideal when it comes to human rights, but it frequently violates these standards within its own borders, Amnesty International contends in a new report to be released today. From prisoners forced to wear shock-emitting stun belts to police who beat suspects without cause, the 153-page document provides the group's first comprehensive look at human rights violations in the United States. Amnesty International accuses the United States of maintaining a double standard: criticizing other countries for their abuses while not abiding by international treaties and principles of human rights itself. The United States, for example, has failed to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which seeks to promote human rights for children. [continues 322 words]
A MAN who changed his name to Free R. Cannabis tried to present a marijuana plant to the Home Secretary, a court was told yesterday. Cannabis, 30, formerly Robert Christopher, was given a conditional discharge at Southwark Crown Court for possessing the drug. The owner of a shop selling hemp was arrested as he brandished the plant during a demonstration outside the Home Office in Central London by supporters of the legalisation of cannabis. Dressed in a hemp collar and tie, Cannabis, who conducted his own defence, said that he planned the protest after being jailed for refusing to pay a #100 fine for possession of 1 1/2 g of cannabis. Cannabis said: "The day I was released from prison, Jack Straw's son was cautioned for selling two grams of cannabis to a Daily Mirror reporter, so you can make your own judgment from that." [continues 297 words]
Exclusive: New Claims Of Misconduct By Drugs Squad Drugs squad officers already accused of lying under oath were linked last night to a series of raids that prompted claims of planted evidence, brutality and perjury. Scotland's most senior law officer has been urged to investigate new claims of criminal misconduct surrounding the activities of the Strathclyde Police squad in the early 1990s. Concern now centres on three raids mounted within a few months of each other and involving several of the officers already suspended by the force after being accused of lying to cover up the violent beating of a suspect. [continues 723 words]
Michael Pollan's essay on poppy cultivation and the government's blundering drug policy ["Opium, Made Basy," Folio, April] might be appreciated for its whimsy and humor were it not also a chilling reminder of the incremental totalitarianism that the war on drugs has produced. During my thirtyfiveyear career, I served in the New York City Police Department and as chief of police in Kansas City, Missouri, and San Jose, California. Since my retirement in 1991, I have tried to expose the hypocrisy, corruption, violence, and racism inherent in America's doomed war against drugs. [continues 384 words]
by Peter Dale Scott With the slaughters of Guatemala and El Salvador receding, the bloodiest killing field of this hemisphere is now Colombia. Leftwing political leaders, union organizers, and many other avilians are being systematically slaughtered, while random terror is being used to drive peasants and shopkeepers from their land. Major human rights organizations agree that the United States should forthwith cease arming and training those who are conducting this organized counterinsurgency program of political terror and murder. A small group in Congress is increasingly concerned and vocal about the impact of U.S. aid on Colombian human rights. [continues 3466 words]
