$500,000 MORE OK'D FOR POLICE UNIT'S LAWYERS.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Hit by a barrage of lawsuits challenging the LAPD's Special Investigations Section, the City Council voted Friday to increase from $500,000 to $1 million the money allocated for outside attorneys to fight the complaints.

A day after SIS detectives wounded two bank robbery suspects in Orange County, the council held a special, closed-door meeting Friday to discuss seven lawsuits filed against the SIS by plaintiffs from other incidents.

All of the plaintiffs are represented by attorney Stephen Yagman, who has harshly criticized the SIS tactics of trailing criminals, waiting for them to commit a crime, and then confronting them with guns drawn.

``It's a shame we have to go through this all the time with this attorney,'' said City Council President John Ferraro. ``He (Yagman) is costing the city of Los Angeles millions of dollars with frivolous cases.''

Yagman has previously won three lawsuits against the SIS. He accused the council of tossing large amounts of money to defense attorneys rather than dealing with issues raised in the lawsuits and reforming the SIS.

``There is a kind of obstinate arrogance going on,'' Yagman said.

He said the city faces damages of up to $100 million in all the lawsuits combined, but is refusing to reform the SIS.

The unit has been the subject of controversy for years because of its tactics. In many cases, the surveillance ends with suspects and detectives exchanging gunfire.

The Los Angeles Police Department claims the unit has killed 15 suspects in the past 15 years. Yagman puts the death count at 44.

One of the seven lawsuits considered by the council Friday stems from an incident after a Northridge bar robbery Feb. 25, when SIS detectives shot and killed three robbery suspects and wounded a bystander.

The FBI has launched an investigation of the SIS shooting, and Yagman describes the SIS as a ``death squad'' in the lawsuit he filed on behalf of the bystander, Grover Smith.

On the same day as that shooting, the council allocated $10,000 to settle another Yagman lawsuit stemming from the SIS shooting of three people at a McDonald's restaurant in Sunland in 1990.

Two other lawsuits considered Friday by the council stem from a June 26, 1995, incident in which SIS detectives killed one suspect and wounded another outside a Newbury Park liquor store after a robbery.

Assistant City Attorney Pete Echeverria said the city already has spent $534,000 preparing for a trial in the cases stemming from the 1995 incident.

``I believe these cases are not meritorious,'' Echeverria said.

A federal judge recently consolidated the 1995 cases with the five other lawsuits filed by Yagman against the SIS.

In response, the council voted Friday to allocate $500,000 more to the law firm of Christensen White Miller Fink and Jacobs to handle all of the cases.

Council members Marvin Braude and Mike Feuer voted against the contract extension, which includes a $250 per hour rate for lead attorney Skip Miller.

Braude called the costs ``grossly excessive.'' Feuer added: ``I think there may be other lawyers who would charge less for the same level of service.''

Yagman said the council should be dealing with issues raised in the lawsuits by agreeing to new rules for the SIS.

``It's a good idea to follow people who are believed (to be) involved in crimes,'' Yagman said. ``It's a bad idea to structure the end of the surveillance in a way that virtually guarantees it will result in gunfire.''