Fuhrman, a Good Bad Example

Mark Fuhrman, the poster boy for bad cops, will not face federal civil rights prosecution for his alleged brutality while on duty in the Los Angeles Police Department. Justice Department officials have closed the investigation because the former detective’s actions took place prior to 1988 and thus the five-year statute of limitations had expired. Just why it took the government three years to find it out is hard to figure.

Did Fuhrman, as he claimed in 14 taped interviews with an aspiring screenwriter, assault and mistreat minorities? An LAPD task force found 29 possible instances between 1977 and 1988 involving Fuhrman and other officers that could be construed as police misconduct, according to the Justice Department. The LAPD inquiry found that Fuhrman may have exaggerated some of his exploits, but what about those times he was telling the truth?

He told the truth when he pleaded no contest to lying under oath during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The former detective testified he had not used the “N-word” in the past decade. Caught on tape repeatedly uttering the racial slur, he faced a $10,000 fine and a four-year felony prison sentence for perjury. In a deal approved by California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, Furhman did no time, got three years’ probation and paid a measly $200 fine for his crime.

This man, who also freely described his hostility to women in the department, is often described as part of the “old LAPD.” The new LAPD, under Chief Bernard Parks and former Chief Willie L. Williams, has adopted numerous reforms intended to increase accountability, discourage police misconduct, discipline rogue officers and root out bad cops.

Well, Mark Fuhrman is no longer a cop, but he remains a bad example, and a symbol to all police departments of what can happen when the police are not policed.