Faith in LAPD in the Balance

Now begins the reckoning from a Los Angeles Police Department investigation of corrupt officers. We will see the true measure of how even a few bad cops can sully the reputation of a county’s criminal justice system and distract law enforcement from its main goal of ensuring peace and safety on the streets.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has overturned four convictions and dismissed the charges in a fifth case, all because of the taint of the Rampart Division scandal. One man serving a prison sentence of about eight years was freed Wednesday. Another will get a reduced sentence because a prior conviction was voided. Already, five prosecutors have been shifted from other duties to focus on potentially tainted convictions and arrests, and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said that he might need to expand the corruption team. Prosecutors in pending cases have been warned that they might have to delay cases or dismiss charges handled by officers who are under suspicion.

Wednesday’s actions involved cases worked by former LAPD Officer Rafael Perez and his onetime police partner, Nino Durden. It was Perez who last summer unveiled the details of a scandal involving Rampart’s antigang unit. Perez has been cooperating with authorities to cut time from his sentence for cocaine theft from a police property room. Perez has implicated himself and Durden in the shooting of an unarmed man, Javier Francisco Ovando, who was seriously wounded. Ovando then was framed for assault on a police officer. He was released from prison in late September.

Perez and Durden were portrayed in court documents as cutthroat opportunists who abused their badges for personal gain. So far, the LAPD corruption probe has resulted in more than a dozen officers being relieved of duty. Police officials expect more officers to eventually get caught up in the scandal, which includes allegations that police were involved in improper shootings, planting evidence, false arrests, witness intimidation, beatings, theft, drug dealing and perjury.

This goes beyond the harm to the reputations of the honest officers who have worked hard to clean up the Rampart Division. It inevitably brings suspicion on the testimony of police in court. And real criminals might avoid convictions as part of the fallout. That’s why it is so important to thoroughly follow this scandal on whatever course it takes. Faith in criminal justice in Los Angeles hangs in the balance.