D/A’S Comments Underscores LAPD’s Exhaustive Efforts in the Rampart

"D/A’S Comments Underscores LAPD’s Exhaustive Efforts in the Rampart Corruption Scandal"
 

Los Angeles: On November 7, 2001, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, joined by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief of Police Bernard C. Parks, held a press conference to announce that his office would soon be closing the book on the Rampart Corruption Scandal. The scandal came to light after shocking revelations by former LAPD Officer Rafael Perez. Perez was forced to make the revelations after a thorough and exhaustive investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department linked him to serious criminal activities.
The historic cooperative efforts between the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department resulted in numerous criminal filings against, and subsequent guilty pleas by, a number of police officers who broke the law and violated the very Code of Ethics by which they swore to abide.
Los Angeles Chief of Police Bernard Parks, in describing District Attorney Cooley’s comments as "significant", stated that the Department did not anticipate forwarding any further criminal allegations against Rampart officers [in connection with the Rampart Corruption Scandal] to the District Attorney’s Office. Chief Parks reiterated his previous comments that the Department had provided all investigative materials to the appropriate prosecutorial entities, which included the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office. Chief Parks added, "We look forward to bringing some closure to this chapter in our history, with the sincere belief that it will make us a better and stronger Department, as we pursue our goal to provide the people of the Los Angeles community with the highest level of quality in all aspects of our work."
The Department has long held that the Rampart Corruption Scandal was limited to Rampart Area and that it’s (the LAPD’s) investigation into this matter, and the subsequent Board of Inquiry, was the most comprehensive, exhaustive and critical, to date by any law enforcement agency.
This press release was prepared by Lieutenant Horace Frank, Officer in Charge, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.