ANTI-TERROR UNIT SKIRTS THE LAW AUDITORS FIND SLOPPINESS IN FILES, SCREENING NO ABUSE OF SUSPECTS NOTED.

Byline: BETH BARRETT

Staff Writer

The first audit of the LAPD's anti-terrorism activities in a decade has found that officers were allowed into the highly sensitive unit without taking polygraphs, confidential information was sloppily handled, and the Police Commission didn't get required updates.

The audit was released 1 1/2 years after the Daily News disclosed that mandatory annual commission audits of the Los Angeles Police Department's Anti-Terrorist Intelligence Section hadn't been done since 1997 -- a failing that raised concerns about the potential for abuse and the lack of public transparency.

Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the audit, a requirement after a court settlement intended to end police abuses in keeping secret dossiers on prominent individuals, was long overdue.

She noted a finding that grounds of reasonable suspicion "appeared questionable" in the opening of two investigations.

And she questioned why the audit didn't include the total number of terrorist investigations, as a 1997 audit did.

"On balance, it's a pretty good report, but it shows the importance of why these reports should be issued," Ripston said. "We were dismayed to find out they weren't keeping track of the agreement in the settlement they made."

The audit's first phase, performed by Commissioner Alan J. Skobin and Inspector General Andre Birotte, found a series of problems that went undetected or unreported to the public during the years the audits were neglected.

But their report, released today, didn't identify any improper police tracking of individuals involved in political dissent or other constitutionally protected activity.

"We were very thorough," Skobin said. "This is a very important area -- people's constitutional rights, their liberties. We were painstakingly careful in reviewing this and found (no violations) whatsoever. ... The type of abuses that were the target of the audit were not happening in (the) LAPD -- not in the areas that violate people's rights."

Skobin said while there was no evidence of wrongdoing, auditors found some lapses and room for improvement.

Lie detector not used

The lapses include the discontinuation of giving a lie-detector test to new anti-terrorism investigators.

"In the past (anti-terrorism) personnel submitted to a lie-detector examination prior to being placed in the section," the audit report says.

"Due to limited resources within the department and a need to transfer personnel into the section in a relatively short time frame, this process was eliminated from the selection process."

Capt. Gary S. Williams, Major Crimes Division commanding officer who is retiring this month, told auditors he was delayed in reimplementing the lie-detector test by "employment and legal considerations." Still, the test has been reinstituted for new transfers.

Williams could not be reached for comment Monday.

Deputy Chief Mark Leap, who oversees the LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau and who also is retiring at the end of the month, said he hadn't seen the audit Monday.

The audit says Williams failed to provide the commission with written certification each year that all intelligence investigations had been internally reviewed and that those no longer considered viable had been closed, as regulations required.

The audits of the Major Crimes Division, which includes the Anti-Terrorist Intelligence Section, were a key condition of a $1.8 million settlement with the ACLU of Southern California in 1984 after a high-profile department scandal.

The ACLU settlement came over the activities of the LAPD's Public Disorder Intelligence Division, which kept extensive secret files on public officials and prominent civilians.

Conditions expire

The department was accused of abuses in using those files after a detective was found to have more than 100 boxes of dossiers in his home and garage, and to have disclosed some of the material to right-wing groups and individuals.

The conditions expired in the mid-1990s, but department guidelines continued to require the audits.

Birotte said he was troubled, in particular, by instances in which the documentation in the anti-terrorism files didn't back up the actions taken by investigators.

"We saw examples where we didn't think there was adequate documentation," he said. "It's always a concern, ... especially with a section as sensitive as this."

Williams, he said, blamed investigators' lack of experience.

The audit says protocols intended to keep track of sensitive materials, including time stamps and other tracking devices, had been largely abandoned.

"In the past, (anti-terrorism) personnel used a stamp, wherein personnel documented how and when the information (placed in the working folder) was obtained and material to the investigation.

"The stamp was not present on a majority of documents contained in the working files for the investigations reviewed."

Some files sketchy

After it became an issue, Williams restored the documentation requirement last April.

In one case, a file described a person as talking about wanting to harm another, but there was no documentation that the target was ever warned. Williams said another agency made the notification.

In another case, a file indicated officers found a document about ingredients for explosives, but key information was missing, including who gave officers the tip.

A third case described how fliers had been distributed by a radical group around the city, but further information was lacking, including a copy of the flier.

Auditors also said they were concerned that anti-terrorism personnel weren't getting the semiannual training regulations used to require -- to keep investigators abreast of constitutional and statutory considerations, as well as intelligence policy.

The report blames the decade-long gap in mandatory Police Commission auditing on "personnel resource constraints," but notes there was regular communication, as well as informal updates.

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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