FBI Launches Probe Into Rampart Scandal

Marking a milestone in the 5-month-old Rampart corruption scandal, authorities announced Wednesday that federal prosecutors and half a dozen FBI agents would begin investigating alleged civil rights abuses by Los Angeles police officers, while the district attorney’s office said it is pursuing murder and attempted murder charges against some officers.

Although federal officials said months ago that they had opened an investigation into corruption at the LAPD, U.S. Atty. Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged that, to date, federal investigators have done little more than monitor the situation. Mayorkas said that at the request of LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, his office and the FBI are taking a more vigorous role in the expanding probe.

“We in the Department of Justice hope to bring our expertise, our resources and our independence to bear upon this matter,” said Mayorkas, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “The corruption and civil rights violations that are alleged to have occurred tear at the foundation of not only our law enforcement community, but of our civil society as a whole. Justice must be done here.”

Mayorkas said the first step for federal agents and prosecutors is getting up to speed on what LAPD investigators and county prosecutors have uncovered.

“The decision as to who will ultimately prosecute any cases that are made, must be made collaboratively, with only the best interests of the cases in mind,” he said.

So far, the LAPD corruption investigation has turned up allegations of unjustified shootings, beatings, evidence planting, false arrests and perjury. The probe, for the most part, has been fueled by the testimony of ex-officer Rafael Perez, who is cooperating with authorities to obtain a lighter sentence for stealing drugs. Since September, when the scandal broke, at least 21 officers have been relieved of duty, suspended, quit or been fired. Additionally, dozens of criminal convictions have been overturned.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials announced their interagency cooperation amid much public fanfare at a news conference at LAPD’s downtown headquarters. Yet, despite pronouncements of “teamwork” and “common goals” of rooting out police corruption, it was clear that turf wars and personality clashes already are complicating matters.

Most striking was the tension between Parks and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti. Parks has made no secret of his belief that the D.A. is dragging his feet in prosecuting corrupt officers. Garcetti, sources say, believes that Parks is rushing the corruption probe and pressing for the filing of relatively minor criminal charges against officers in an effort to minimize the scandal’s scope.

“I am heartened by the FBI’s participation in this investigation. Six FBI agents is frankly a great start,” said an agitated Garcetti, who was unaware of the news conference until about two hours before it was to be held. “We do need a true state, local, federal partnership to get to the very bottom of this.”

One reporter asked Parks if his request to call in federal investigators was a public slap in the face to Garcetti.

“This is about getting to the bottom of corruption and we shouldn’t lose sight of that,” Parks said. “We won’t entertain questions about personalities or issues of that sort.”

As reporters began to shout follow-up questions, Garcetti made a move for the podium. He reiterated that he and his team of 30 prosecutors and support staff “are working as expeditiously as we can” toward “putting together a comprehensive case that is going to result in successful prosecutions and state prison sentences for those evil cops.”

Garcetti also appeared to take a swipe at Parks, who has assigned 30 detectives to work on the criminal aspect of the Rampart investigation. The prosecutor recalled a recent corruption scandal at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which was investigated by about 100 deputies who worked more than a year on the case before any charges were filed.

“These cases,” Garcetti said, “do take time.”

The district attorney also has been criticized by Mayor Richard Riordan--a staunch Parks supporter--for not filing any criminal charges against officers under suspicion.

Conflicts Among Officials Emerge

At the news conference Wednesday, conflict between the mayor and Garcetti surfaced again. A television reporter asked Garcetti about comments Riordan made last week in which the mayor reportedly said that the district attorney was seeking perfection before prosecuting Rampart officers, and that “perfection leads to stagnation.”

Garcetti began to tell the reporter that he didn’t think Riordan had made any such comments, but the mayor, who was present on the stage, smiled and nodded in agreement with the television reporter’s statement.

Stammering, Garcetti broke off his characterization of the mayor’s remarks.

“I understand the frustration everyone has. They want us to move,” Garcetti said. “But these are very serious, very difficult cases. Under California law, I can’t just go in and begin the prosecution based on what Officer Perez said. . . . It’ll never get to the jury. It’ll be dismissed.”

Garcetti also warned that the U.S. attorney held no magic wand in such matters.

“I dare say, if you look at the history of the federal involvement [in such investigations], they don’t enter a case and then three weeks later they’re prosecuting. It takes months, maybe even a couple years, before they prosecute.”

Despite the public criticism from the chief and mayor, county prosecutors are pressing forward in their investigation and are considering possible murder and attempted murder charges against some LAPD officers involved in the corruption.

7 Shootings Investigated

At least seven questionable shootings are under investigation as part of the Rampart probe. Perez has implicated himself and his former partner Nino Durden in the shooting of an unarmed 19-year-old man. Perez said he and Durden planted a gun on the gang member and falsely testified that he had attacked them. The man, who was paralyzed in the shooting, has since been released from prison and is suing the city.

Perez said he was present at a second incident in which he witnessed a fellow officer shoot an unarmed man in the chest and then watched as another officer planted a weapon near the bleeding victim, who later died.

In addition to the stepped-up federal involvement, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said Wednesday that he has ordered an expanded review of the Rampart investigation.

Other city leaders expressed approval of adding more law enforcement resources to the probe.

“It gives me more confidence in the whole system,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who heads the council’s Public Safety Committee. “There are appropriate roles for each agency to play and they are going to be playing them to the fullest.”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas also voiced his support.

“It is most unusual for local law enforcement officials to call on federal law enforcement officials,” Ridley-Thomas said. “That in and of itself points to the severity of the crisis.”

Councilman Joel Wachs said that while he agrees that it is important to bring in the FBI to assist with the criminal investigation, he still believes that the city must form an independent citizens committee to probe the matter.

“We need all the help we can get in investigating what happened and holding those responsible,” Wachs said. “But that is still a separate issue of finding out why it happened and what we are going to do to prevent it from happening again in the future.

“I still maintain that we need an outside, independent investigation on the entire scandal.”

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Times staff writers Tina Daunt and Mitchell Landsberg contributed to this story.