Unlikely Allies Support Justice System Criticism

An unlikely alliance of police union leaders, civil rights lawyers and a mayoral candidate Monday endorsed a report alleging that the Los Angeles Police Department’s top management, county prosecutors and judges all bear responsibility for the Rampart corruption scandal.

In fact, the scandal has laid bare “grave problems” not only in the LAPD, but in the broader criminal justice system, said the study’s author, USC constitutional law professor Erwin Chemerinsky.

“The system is seriously flawed,” said Chemerinsky, who headed the city’s elected Charter Reform Commission and undertook the independent study on behalf of the Police Protective League, which represents the LAPD’s rank and file. “When innocent people are convicted and imprisoned, all of the institutions have failed us. All must be reformed to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Chemerinsky’s 150-page report calls on the city to approve the U.S. Department of Justice’s demand for a consent decree mapping out reforms for the LAPD.

He also advocates amnesty from departmental discipline for officers who have failed to report misconduct within the Rampart Division; the appointment of full-time police commissioners; an overhaul of the department’s internal affairs division, and appointment of a special prosecutor to pursue police misconduct cases.

The study’s recommendations were praised by Councilman Joel Wachs, a mayoral candidate who charged that the LAPD’s internal inquiry minimizes the Rampart scandal.

Ted Hunt, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said his members were so frustrated that the union’s leaders were willing to call for the review by vocal police critics such as Chemerinsky and civil rights lawyer Constance Rice.

In fact, the civil rights advocates and beat cops found some common ground. Rice attacked the department’s internal affairs division, which she said “will go after a cop whose shoes aren’t shined,” while overlooking transgressions by high-ranking officers.

Protective League board member Donald Lint called Rice’s characterization “absolutely correct. If you’re a command officer you can virtually commit crimes and not be investigated, while a rank-and-file officer who is late for roll call can expect to be punished.”

As the union released its report, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks attacked the union and its study after news conference to announce a new anti-crime program.

Although they criticized some of the key charges in the report, both said they had not read it.

Parks accused Chemerinsky of bias in favor of the police union. He said Chemerinsky has been allied with the unions since he helped lead the successful campaign to reform the City Charter.

“Mr. Chemerinsky and the union are in bed together,” Parks said.

Riordan rejected Chemerinsky’s conclusion that the department covers up for problem officers with a “code of silence.”

“I have to tell you there is no code of silence in the department,” Riordan said. He acknowledged that individual officers may cover up for other officers, “but as a general trend, it is not done.”