L.A. DISBANDING POLICE UNITS IN WAKE OF CORRUPTION SCANDAL http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0003050099,FF.html

From Tribune News Services March 5, 2000 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- The Police Department says that all of its CRASH anti-gang units will be disbanded in the aftermath of a corruption scandal involving one of the elite squads.

Chief Bernard Parks ordered that the units be deactivated by next weekend and that the officers return to patrol duties.

"The department will audit the functions of these disbanded units, including such things as their gang files," a statement said Friday, indicating a search for trouble beyond what has been revealed in a probe of the unit at the department's Rampart station.

Allegations spiraling out of the Rampart Division's Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, better known here as CRASH, have painted a picture of rogue officers operating like a gang themselves, beating, framing, and even shooting suspects.

Since the scandal broke last fall, at least 20 officers have been relieved of duty, and 40 convictions have been overturned. Dozens of other criminal cases are under investigation.

The department plans to activate new organizations called Special Enforcement Units in 30 days, which will operate under different requirements than the old CRASH units.

The role of the new units will be detailed later, the department said.

Officers in the new units will receive special training on its mission and strategies and will have to operate under the same rules as uniformed patrol officers, the statement said.

The CRASH units date to the late 1970s. There are 18 citywide, with eight to 12 officers in each.

-- cin (cinlooo@aol.com), March 05, 2000

Answers

In lieu of the recent LAPD corruption scandal, I found this somewhat ironic (an 8-year-old boy's dying wish)...http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/2000/20000302/lo/20000302039.html

Boy's Wish To Be L.A.P.D Cop Granted

A young boy from Surrey, England got his wish granted Wednesday after Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks made him an honorary L.A.P.D officer. Eight-year-old Stephen Coombe suffers from a life-threatening brain tumor. He told the Make-A-Wish Foundation that he wanted to visit and work with the L.A.P.D.

Parks gave Coombe an official badge along with a t-shirt, hat and two days worth of tours.

Officer Jason Lee told Channel 2000 that the schedule of events was based around the boy's interests in the department.

After Wednesday's ceremony, Coombe's went to the Air Support Division to get a ride on a police helicopter. Later, he watched a demonstration by the bomb squad and K-9 unit. Coombe will take a tour of the Police Academy in Elysian Park and go to the department's horse stables on Thursday. Activities will conclude with a drive in a police car with lights and sirens on at the driver training facility near Granada Hills.

The director of public relations and communication for the Los Angeles Make-A-Wish chapter, Shelley Ginsburg, said in a press release that Coombe's told the foundation's affiliate in the United Kingdom that he wanted to become an officer after hearing about the police department on television.

Make-A-Wish has granted wishes for over 73,000 children suffering from life threatening illnesses. The foundation currently has 50 chapters in the United States.

-- cin (cinlooo@aol.com), March 05, 2000.

Wasn't this whole deal with the LAPD disgusting? One of my real concerns for our country is the growing number of people who feel disenfranchised from society, or from hope of betterment within it. How do you reach out to these people if even the police are framing them and falsely accusing them?

It truly is a sad day when I have to agree that some of the most paranoid people I meet have been (to some extent) right all along.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), March 06, 2000.

I was originally looking for a story that I heard on the radio this morning, but I can't find it.

Two police officers were suing the Long Beach PD because they had a problem with oders to NOT GIVE TICKETS to other cops and city officials. They refused and were then retaliated against.

Perhaps someone can find the story. I gave up. =)

-- cin (cinlooo@aol.com), March 06, 2000.