COOLEY: D.A. WAS `ASLEEP,' BLEW CATCHING ROGUE COPS.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

District Attorney Steve Cooley declared Wednesday that prosecutors were ``asleep at the switch'' and could have identified the rogue cops operating in the LAPD's Rampart Division earlier if they had had better oversight procedures.

In a speech at an FBI ethics symposium in Long Beach, Cooley acknowledged for the first time that the District Attorney's Office bears some responsibility for the extent of corruption that occurred in the Rampart scandal. More than 100 innocent people were convicted on the basis of cops' fabricated testimony and planted evidence.

``Let me now go to confession about our own failings in the Rampart scandal,'' Cooley said. ``There was a critical failure by the District Attorney's Office in oversight. We did not exercise an independent prosecutorial role over the Los Angeles Police Department in the detection of possible corruption.

``The truth is that decision makers in this office were asleep at the switch.''

Cooley, who defeated incumbent Gil Garcetti in November, pointed to the lack of formal procedures for dealing with evidence of crimes by officers and written policies to guide prosecutors who suspect police witnesses are lying.

``The first step toward rehabilitation is to acknowledge one's guilt,'' Cooley said. ``We tell criminals that every day.''

Garcetti, who did not return calls for comment, had steadfastly denied that his office had any responsibility for Rampart and dismissed charges that on at least two separate occasions in 1997, a deputy district attorney was ignored when he sounded alarms about the dishonesty of dirty-cop- turned-informant Rafael Perez.

Cooley said the office should have had a written policy to give guidance to prosecutor Michael Kraut when he suspected Perez was a liar.

``If there had been such a policy, the scandal might have been detected years earlier,'' Cooley said.

Don't do as we did

Cooley said he chose the FBI forum to reach law enforcement personnel throughout Southern California and to remind them that prosecutorial and investigative functions are distinct.

``I don't want them to fall into the same trap,'' he said in an interview.

He said the District Attorney's Office abdicated many of its prosecutorial responsibilities on ``Rampart-type'' police referrals, handing them over by default to law enforcement agencies.

``We found a prosecutorial void and we intend to fill it,'' Cooley said.

Garcetti had no written policies on what information the LAPD, Sheriff's Department and other police agencies were expected to turn over to prosecutors on potential criminal misconduct by officers, Cooley said.

Without guidance, some law enforcement agencies began to inappropriately make up their own protocols - including the LAPD, which currently has a multi-tier review process - to screen and decide what information should be turned over to prosecutors.

``Today the police referral policies in Los Angeles County (are) vague, imprecise, variable, inconsistent or nonexistent,'' Cooley said. ``For example, and contrary to media reports, there is no written protocol between my office and the Los Angeles Police Department on Rampart-type misconduct referrals that involve evidence of police criminality.

``This confusion must end.

``Law enforcement agencies were left to their own devices,'' despite lacking the constitutional authority or expertise to make screening decisions, Cooley added. ``They're not lawyers, they're not prosecutors.''

No agreement

Cooley said he talked with Parks last week - shortly before Inspector General Jeffrey Eglash's report accused the chief of misconduct in not cooperating with Garcetti last March. He said Parks told him Garcetti would never agree to a written protocol.

``I explained to him that if a policy isn't written, it's not helpful at all and that you can't have a one-sided policy,'' Cooley said. ``I told him we don't agree with the current LAPD policy and what they go through in their decision to refer a case over to the district attorney.

``I'm not criticizing the chief in this regard because he was left to his own devices, according to him.''

Cooley said he will require all law enforcement agencies to adhere to a new policy, which could have prevented the clash between Garcetti and Parks. The policy generally will require law enforcement to turn over information to prosecutors at an early stage.

Parks, who also attended the conference, said he agrees ``100 percent'' with Cooley, and that the written filing protocols will help investigators know what prosecutors are looking for.

``It will provide a clarity as to what the expectation is on a consistent basis, that's the big thing for us,'' Parks said.

Parks said had such a protocol existed, the March feud would not have escalated because at that time there existed only an ``informal, verbal agreement (with Garcetti) that deteriorated over time.''

Parks denies charges

Parks has called the charges that he failed to cooperate with Garcetti ``false,'' despite his serious concerns that without proper protocols in place, the prosecution of Rampart cops would be jeopardized.

Eglash, who declined to discuss the Parks-Garcetti clash episode, said he agrees with Cooley that the LAPD needs to turn over all its investigative materials to the District Attorney's Office in a proper and expedient manner.

``Police departments in general, and the LAPD in particular, should refer cases involving political criminal conduct by officers to the District Attorney's Office for review by prosecutors,'' Eglash said.

``The Police Commission and Inspector General's Office have been reviewing the LAPD's policies in this regard and are working to ensure that protocols are in place to guarantee that such referrals are made so the district attorney can properly fulfill (his) function.''

Cooley said he told Sheriff Lee Baca that his new office for reviewing deputy misconduct cases cannot make prosecutorial decisions.

``That's our job,'' Cooley said. ``They're talking about spending a lot of money to add another layer to what's a prosecutorial decision. It has to stop.''

Baca backed Cooley's proposal and said he's invited prosecutors to participate in the Office of Independent Review, a $1.3 million annual program. He said his own internal audit found problems in the review process.

``Our method of communicating with the district attorney needed to be tightened up,'' he said.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: (color) COOLEY