COP SCANDAL TO COST L.A. $70 MILLION.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Announcing an end to the Rampart corruption case, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said Thursday the city will pay a total of about $70 million to settle lawsuits that alleged misconduct or brutality by LAPD police officers.

In the five years since the scandal erupted, drug dealers, gang members and others have filed 214 claims and lawsuits alleging they were framed, shot or beaten by officers in an anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. Of the total, 27 suits were dismissed and eight are pending settlements, which are part of the estimated $70 million total payout.

``We are here to announce the end of an unfortunate and dark chapter in our city's history, a chapter that I hope will serve as a prologue to a safer and more secure L.A. for all its residents,'' Delgadillo said.

``The rapid and fair disposition of these cases has brought justice to those wronged by the handful of rogue officers who tarnished one of the finest police departments in the nation.''

As part of a federal consent decree and his efforts to prevent future scandals, LAPD Chief William Bratton said his department is working hard to identify ``problem officers'' before misconduct occurs, ensure that appropriate force is used, bolster civilian oversight, invest in proper supervision, and carefully recruit and train officers.

``We are identifying our problem officers, but more importantly we are getting rid of them as fast as we can,'' Bratton said.

Javier Francisco Ovando, a gang member who was shot by police and left paralyzed, received the largest settlement - $15 million - but most of the cases with payouts did not involve the use of force.

Instead, court rulings allowed people arrested by officers implicated in the scandal to file claims alleging wrongful arrest or civil-rights violations simply because the officers involved were alleged to be corrupt. In many cases, these people pleaded guilty and either served or are serving jail time.

The total payout is $55 million less than the $125 million figure projected five years ago by then-City Attorney James Hahn.

``As a result, at least $10 million that would have been set aside for Rampart payouts in the proposed 2005-06 budget will be available for more police officers and other critical community services,'' Delgadillo said. ``I am recommending that these funds be used to train and hire new police officers.''

Many of the misconduct allegations were made by ex-Officer Rafael Perez, who later emerged as the main culprit after his accusations against other officers were largely disproved.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com