New Opening for LAPD Reform : Allegations against detectives could shift political winds--if Williams acts

The Los Angeles Police Department is operating under a cloud that’s getting bigger. The latest allegations of detectives falsifying evidence challenges the Police Commission, Chief Willie L. Williams, Mayor Richard Riordan, the City Council and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti to determine--perhaps with the help of federal investigators, who may be able to penetrate the department’s notorious code of silence--whether fabricating evidence is indeed as rare as city officials insist.

The most recent allegations come hard on the heels of the release of retired LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman’s tape-recorded boasts to a screenwriter about how he fabricated evidence while he was on the streets. Those remarks have been heard around the world because Fuhrman was a prominent witness in the O. J. Simpson murder trial.

Chief Williams took quick action in the latest case. He suspended Detective Andrew A. Teague, who is suspected of forging signatures on witness statements and lying about it in court, and his partner, who allegedly knew about the misconduct but said nothing. The LAPD’s Internal Affairs Division is investigating and is expected to present findings to Garcetti. The district attorney must aggressively pursue these cases, not only on behalf of the public interest but because his own prosecutors depend on the reliability of police evidence.

Williams was brought in from Philadelphia after the Christopher Commission report of 1991 identified a series of problems, and 44 problem officers, many of whom--including Teague--remain on the force. The chief’s disclosure Tuesday to the council that Internal Affairs is monitoring 100 more officers should be somewhat reassuring. Being brought in from outside the LAPD hasn’t helped Williams. The chief has been undermined by whisperers eager to see an outsider, and the first black chief, fail.

But now Williams has a unique opportunity. The recent disclosures mean the winds are blowing reform’s way--if the police chief moves swiftly and decisively. There’s a big, hot national spotlight of publicity on the department. Now’s the time to push reform as never before. Now’s the time to announce a specific plan for dealing with officers who bring shame upon the city and the LAPD.