3 Officers Convicted in Rampart Scandal

* Re “3 Rampart Officers Convicted of Corruption; 4th Found Not Guilty,” Nov. 16: If the three officers truly did what they were convicted of, they should have been disciplined administratively, not criminally tried. They were dealing with violent and lawless gangsters, many illegally residing in the United States. They may have stepped over the line in their zeal “to protect and serve” the law-abiding citizens of Los Angeles, but such actions did not warrant criminal convictions and disgrace.

The key informant, the “good guy” in this case, is a bad cop who is a drug dealer who implicated the entire LAPD to justify his crimes. The police must play by the rules, but to be criminally accountable, they must do more than what these officers were convicted of. Clearly we should show more compassion for the men and women who serve in the LAPD than the gangbangers who foul our city.

JOSEPH F. PAGGI JR.

Pasadena

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Re “Perez’s Ex-Lover Apologizes for False Murder Accusation,” Nov. 12: Sonia “Sonya” Flores tearfully apologized and told the media that her motive in making up the murder story was to punish her ex-lover, Rafael Perez. I shed not one tear for Flores as I await her being criminally charged of obstruction of justice and lying under oath, and I hope that she is forced to pay restitution to the city for sending several officers down to Tijuana to dig through trash.

ROBERT J. KING

Beverly Hills

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Re “$900,000 OKd for Wrongly Jailed Man,” Nov. 8: I feel the real reason the feds are coming into L.A. is because there is no leadership in this city. The LAPD and the city have given so much credit to Perez’s testimony, ruining dozens of officers’ lives and spending millions of tax dollars. Now they want to give $900,000 to an individual who claims he was framed, but Perez says it was a good arrest.

What the heck is going on here? Sometimes we believe Perez, other times we don’t. How much will this cost taxpayers when all those officers sue and get their jobs back? I can’t wait to vote for breaking away from the city!

TOBY MENDOZA

San Pedro