To Prevent a Repeat of Rampart, Fix More Than the LAPD

So far, the Los Angeles Police Department has borne the brunt of scrutiny in the Rampart scandal, a national embarrassment that has led to the reversal of more than 100 convictions and required the city to pay more than $40 million in damages.

But going after the police is not enough. When innocent people are not just arrested but tried, convicted and imprisoned, the entire justice system must be reevaluated.

Although the Police Department was certainly at the heart of the scandal -- beating suspects, planting drugs on them, lying in court, falsifying reports and covering up unjust shootings -- surely prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges played a role as well.

That’s why the two-year study released this week by a county bar task force on the role that the criminal justice establishment played in Rampart is so important.

But no sooner was it released than key players -- including Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley -- denounced some of its recommendations, saying, wrongly, that they would violate the Constitution.

This study must not end up on the shelf gathering dust. If reforms are not implemented, then we will have more Ramparts.

Some recommendations should be easy to implement, such as for improved jail and courthouse facilities so that attorneys and their clients can have truly confidential interviews. Other recommendations of the task force are essential, but are more likely to be controversial.

The Supreme Court has said prosecutors must disclose information to defendants that tends to exonerate them, casts doubt on prosecution witnesses or supports lighter sentences. Such information often was not turned over to defendants in the Rampart cases. The task force study recommends steps to ensure this rule is scrupulously followed.

What’s more, the task force recommends that exonerating information be disclosed before a guilty plea is allowed. This reduces the likelihood that innocent people would be pressured to plead guilty when confronted with the threat of a courtroom face-off with a police officer, whose word would be trusted over theirs.

One of the most important lessons of Rampart was that warning signals were ignored. Some officers were known to have been lying for some time and nothing was done.

One of the task force recommendations is for a database in the prosecutor’s office containing the names of police officers and other recurring witnesses whose honesty and trustworthiness are at issue.

If a prosecutor has serious doubts about an officer’s honesty, that must be documented to ensure that it is shared with other prosecutors who will be relying on that officer’s work and testimony.

In some areas, the task force did not go far enough. For example, the bar group rejected a proposal that judges have an independent duty to ensure that those who plead guilty really are guilty.

Also, the task force does not offer any recommendations to prevent the district attorney’s office from unduly pressuring judges by threatening to have them recused from all cases. This is a serious problem.

The history of policing in Los Angeles over the last half-century has been a series of scandals and incidents of outrageous police behavior. Each revelation causes reports and recommendations for change. Some are implemented; many are ignored. Then there is another scandal, and the cycle is repeated.

Preventing scandals by having a criminal justice system that protects the innocent and upholds the rights of all requires substantial reforms. The task force recommendations are an excellent place to begin.