U.S. Blames Lax Management for Abuses by LAPD

Lax management in the Los Angeles Police Department contributed to a widespread pattern of civil rights abuses in which officers routinely used excessive force, made false arrests and conducted unreasonable searches and seizures, a four-year federal investigation has found.

In a 2 1/2-hour, closed-door meeting at City Hall, Department of Justice officials threatened to sue in federal court if the city did not agree to a host of police reforms. The city’s top leaders immediately pledged to cooperate in addressing the federal government’s concerns and will meet with Department of Justice officials again next week.

In a prepared statement, Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said: “Today, we notified officials of the city of Los Angeles, the Police Commission and the LAPD that the Civil Rights Division has been authorized to file a police misconduct lawsuit. This suit alleges that the LAPD is engaged in a pattern and practice of constitutional violations through excessive force, false arrests, unreasonable searches and seizures, and that management deficiencies have allowed this misconduct to occur. Although we have concluded that these types of misconduct occur on a regular basis, we believe that the majority of LAPD officers are ethical and hard-working.

“We informed the city officials,” Lee said, “that the Department of Justice is willing to defer filing suit to allow the city the opportunity to work toward a voluntary settlement.”

In fact, sources say, both sides would like to negotiate a settlement in which the city would quickly implement reforms and avoid a potentially embarrassing and costly court battle.

The Justice Department is threatening to sue under a 1994 statute that was enacted after another low point for the LAPD: the 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney G. King. Its investigation of the LAPD’s so-called “pattern and practice” dates back four years but has accelerated in the wake of the corruption revelations that have come to be called the Rampart scandal. The federal officials’ specific allegations are contained in the lawsuit, which will be filed if no settlement is reached. The pressure being exerted marks the first time federal officials have used the law in an effort to force reforms in such a big city police department.

“This spells failure,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas of the federal government’s findings. “It means that we don’t have a credible law enforcement agency in the minds of the [Department of Justice]. It means that the problems are deeper than anyone has been willing to acknowledge. They are bigger than Rampart, in other words. Everyone has to take some degree of responsibility for that.”

Justice Department officials expressed profound concerns about the recent revelations of police misconduct arising from the Rampart corruption investigation, and the department’s long-standing failure to launch an adequate system to track problem officers.

Lee, a onetime Los Angeles civil rights lawyer, who summoned City Atty. James K. Hahn, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, Police Commission President Gerald L. Chaleff and other key city officials to the meeting late Monday afternoon, declined to provide details on the specific reforms being sought.

However, in his statement, he noted that “the city has accepted our offer to begin discussions toward a resolution of this issue.”

According to sources, Lee gave city officials a document more clearly stating his office’s concerns.

“It’s a very damning letter, which is highly critical of the department’s management,” said one source who has seen the document.

A key element for Justice Department negotiators in any settlement agreement would be the appointment of an outside auditor to oversee implementation of the ongoing reforms.

Parks, the department’s chief since 1997 and a key member of the command staff for years before that, sat stone-faced with his arms folded across his chest during the meeting. Despite the major implications of the findings for the department, he declined comment through his spokesman.

“They’ve got us over a barrel,” said one high-level City Hall official.

“It’s like a hostile takeover,” a high-ranking LAPD source said.

Paradoxically, it was the LAPD’s own Board of Inquiry report, a scathing self-analysis made public in March, that the Justice Department cited as evidence of the department’s many failures.

Chaleff, the Police Commission’s president, sought to put a positive spin on Monday’s developments.

“We share the same goal, which is to make certain that the Los Angeles Police Department is performing its duties professionally and ethically and that proper management oversight is in place,” he said.

Council President John Ferraro, who also attended the meeting, seemed less optimistic. “Everyone is unhappy,” he said. “We are all anxious to get this behind us as soon as possible.” The council is expected to discuss the contents of the Justice Department’s document today

Any negotiated agreement with the LAPD would probably be similar to the kinds of pacts that the Justice Department has used in several other cities. In addition to an outside police auditor, it would include setting up a system for tracking problems and imposing new officer training standards.

“Our whole position is that we prefer to resolve this through negotiation,” said one federal law enforcement source who asked not to be identified.

Justice Department officials want to avoid bringing their case to court for several reasons, the source said. A settlement would be much quicker than litigating a lawsuit, it would allow the city to move ahead with reforms rather than have to defend itself in court, and it would ensure the city’s cooperation in finding a workable solution, the official said.

Officials in Los Angeles “know what will work best,” the source said.

Justice Department officials investigating police patterns have been troubled by the LAPD’s lag time in providing requested documents, and they say they are waiting for signs of greater cooperation.

Recently, federal investigators have turned their focus on the LAPD’s unfolding corruption scandal, according to documents obtained by The Times.

In a March 28 letter to City Atty. Hahn, Steven H. Rosenbaum, chief of the Justice Department’s special litigation section, asked for a broad array of documents related to the probe.

First on Rosenbaum’s list was a request for more detail on the department’s Board of Inquiry report, specifically how--and when-- LAPD officials intended to implement more than 100 proposed improvements to safeguard against future corruption.

He also sought more information about cases that have been overturned amid allegations of police misconduct, including addresses and telephone numbers for those arrested and copies of all police reports associated with the cases.

Justice officials also were seeking written department policies regarding use of force and the handling of complaints.

Rosenbaum’s letter specifically asked for a copy of the “Rampart Area Supervisor’s Use of Force Reporting Guide.”

It was in the aftermath of the King beating that the Justice Department gained authority from Congress in 1994 to examine broad patterns of misconduct by municipal police agencies and seek court-ordered reforms if needed. The Justice Department’s probe into the LAPD opened in 1996 to determine if incidents involving excessive force fell into any recognizable pattern.

Some observers suggested that the Justice Department has been much more willing to flex its muscle in forcing reforms in smaller and less politically connected departments such as in Steubenville, Ohio, or Pittsburgh, shying away from departments in Los Angeles and New York, despite well-publicized problems.

But one Justice Department official said Monday that it was “nonsense” for anyone to suggest that the department might back down from a confrontation with Los Angeles officials if a settlement cannot be reached. “We don’t pick on the little guys,” the official said.

Before the meeting, city officials fretted over how best to respond to their visitors from Washington, D.C. Some council members said they were not surprised that the Justice Department was threatening legal action.

“I think the city has brought this on themselves by being stubborn,” said Councilman Joel Wachs, who has tried unsuccessfully to get the council to embrace an outside, independent investigation of the scandal. “It seemed to me inevitable.”

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Times staff writer Eric Lichtblau contributed to this report.