COUNCIL REJECTS INDEPENDENT LAPD INVESTIGATION - AGAIN.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer A new effort to bring in outside investigators to review the Rampart Division corruption case and eliminate any role for the FBI was rejected Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. , despite pleas that
it's needed to restore public confidence in the justice system.
The council voted 8-3 to defer the proposal after Police Chief Bernard C. Parks Bernard Parks (born December 7, 1943 in Beaumont, Texas) is a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th District in South Los Angeles and former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Parks attended Los Angeles City College, received his B.S. told the council that he believes creating a task force of federal, state and local investigators to take over the criminal inquiry is premature and could delay the work that is under way. Councilman Mike Feuer, responding to news accounts of FBI agents attempting to force the Immigration and Naturalization Service Noun 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service - an agency in the Department of Justice that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to the United States INS to deport de·port tr.v. de·port·ed, de·port·ing, de·ports 1. To expel from a country. See Synonyms at banish. 2. To behave or conduct (oneself) in a given manner; comport. gang members from the Rampart area, called for a new task force to be created. ``Public confidence in our justice system has been eroded,'' Feuer said. ``Frankly, my confidence in the system is shaky.'' Parks said he has been meeting with INS INS abbr. 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service 2. International News Service Noun 1. INS officials and was told the allegations about its agents being coerced by FBI agents were the result of testimony from disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see workers. Councilman Joel Wachs, whose proposal for an independent review was rejected last week, said an outside look at the scandal will be needed at some point. ``There will always be a taint over the department until we have someone independent look at this,'' Wachs said. ``There really hasn't been closure on the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. since Rodney King. ``This is a crisis of the greatest magnitude, and at some point we are going to have to come to terms that we will need an outside review. It seems to me this is inevitable.'' Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg also supported the need for an independent look at the investigation. ``As Rome burns, we continue to fiddle,'' Goldberg said. ``The outside world is asking, `What the hell are we doing?' We must be the only people not to get it. What we have is a crisis of confidence and it looks to people like the council is the last one to notice that.'' Parks said his department is investigating all allegations about whether officers violated Special Order 40, which precludes police officers from questioning someone's immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. status unless he or she committed a serious crime. But, he acknowledged, investigators did not learn of the accusations involving the department working with the INS until the accusations were published in news reports. ``That's what concerns me,'' Wachs said. ``You have had hundreds of officers working on this and no one knew anything about this. What else don't we know?'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion