LA County Bar Association details police reform proposals

LOS ANGELES (AP) A police misconduct ``early warning'' system has been proposed by a legal task force that looked into issues arising from a scandal in the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division.

The 24-member Los Angeles County Bar Association task force also recommends changes in court procedures and complaint record-keeping to augment internal reforms in the department.

The report comes 3{ years after the Rampart scandal broke. Ex-officer Rafael Perez, bargaining for a lighter sentence on charges of stealing cocaine from an evidence room, claimed colleagues beat suspects, framed them, lied in court, filed false reports and covered up unjustified shootings.

The report issued Tuesday calls for a database of complaints against officers extending back 10 years, localizing criminal courts to match police divisions in order to keep track of officers who testify regularly, and having more witnesses at preliminary hearings as another method to protect the rights of criminal defendants.

``Every part of the system needs to be awakened to problems when they develop,'' said Miriam Aroni Krinsky, president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. ``The system as a whole has to take responsibility and evaluate what should be done differently.''

No prosecutors or government defenders were included in the study committee in order to provide ``a fresh perspective'' that concentrated on court procedures, she said.

District Attorney Steve Cooley called the report ``a well-intentioned effort by a distinguished group of individuals'' but said some of its suggestions are ``patently unconstitutional or in contravention of state law.''

Cooley did praise the report's recommendation to decentralize the downtown criminal courts.

Some changes in state law are among recommendations of the task force led by U.S. District Court Judge Audrey B. Collins.

A former prosecutor among task force members, defense attorney Richard G. Hirsch, said a database of misconduct complaints could serve as ``an early warning detection system'' for police corruption. Such a database might have allowed authorities to react earlier to the corruption charges against Rampart officers, he said.

Police union officials have fought statewide efforts to collect and store such information about officers, which the unions consider confidential personnel information.

``I would fight that for sure,'' said attorney Elizabeth Tourgeman, who represents the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

After the Rampart scandal broke in 1999 more than 100 criminal convictions were overturned and taxpayers paid more than $40 million to settle lawsuits arising from it. Eight officers were charged with on-duty crimes.

Four officers pleaded guilty or no contest. Three others were convicted of corruption-related offenses, but a judge overturned the jury's verdict. One officer was acquitted of wrongdoing.

Last year Cooley announced his office would not prosecute 82 other Rampart-related cases because of insufficient evidence and because the statute of limitations had expired.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)