CRITIC: REPORT 'MINIMIZED' SCANDAL POLICE COMMISSION PLANS OUT PROBE RAMPART REVIEW PLANNED.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Under increasing pressure for outside oversight, Los Angeles Police Commission officials began mapping plans Thursday to review the LAPD Board of Inquiry report into the Rampart Division scandal.

``While it represented a scathing indictment, it also minimized the scandal,'' said University of Southern California law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who is undertaking his own analysis of the 365-page document for the Los Angeles Police Protective League. ``I think the problem is much more pervasive, where this report is blaming a few bad cops.

``While the theme of it is mediocrity, the Rampart case is much more about malevolence than incompetence.''

Chemerinsky noted that the 108 recommendations in the Board of Inquiry report released Wednesday deal primarily with internal matters and do not address overall issues of police performance.

``It is a beginning. But it doesn't give a sense of looking at all corruption, how many officers are tainted, how high up does it go. There is no real discussion of the code of silence and how many officers did know what was going on.''

Chief Bernard Parks and other officials said the report was not intended to deal with those issues, which are being investigated by a separate task force looking into possible criminal conduct as alleged by former Officer Rafael Perez.

And the chief, along with Mayor Richard Riordan and a majority of the City Council, have been adamant in not allowing an independent review of the department at this time as a result of the allegations involving Rampart.

For instance, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee overseeing the LAPD, said she has faith in the Police Commission.

``I am confident that the Police Commission is committed to doing this crucial job comprehensively,'' Miscikowski said.

To members of the Police Commission, the work they are about to undertake will determine whether the Christopher Commission reforms instituted nearly a decade ago will work.

``Our performance will have a lot to do with the future type of oversight the Police Commission is able to provide,'' Commission President Gerald Chaleff said, acknowledging the pressure on the five-member panel from those who believe an outside review is needed.

``It's always easy to say something in a vacuum, especially when we haven't been able to do anything until we got this report.''

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and others who worked for him have refused to comment on the Board of Inquiry report and have said only that the reforms they recommended regarding the Police Commission should be given a chance to work.

Commission Executive Director Joe Gunn said he and Inspector General Jeff Eglash will provide an initial estimate to the commission at its Tuesday meeting on the need for preliminary staffing and space.

``We probably will start with a core group of five to eight people from outside the city and, depending on the work, we could have anywhere from 25 to 50 people working on this,'' Gunn said. ``This is not a new Christopher Commission - it will be the Police Commission's product, and they will determine what we do.''

Gunn said those hired will include former law enforcement officers and prosecutors as well as experts in private industry, along with some people from various city agencies.

``We want to make sure this report answers the question of how did this happen and how can we prevent it from happening in the future,'' Gunn said.

Eglash, too, said he and the commission must provide a comprehensive review to restore confidence in their ability to oversee the LAPD.

``We want to understand what happened at Rampart and make sure it doesn't happen again,'' Eglash said.

However, the panel could be somewhat limited because it does not want to jeopardize the criminal investigation that is going on.

Eglash said he has been receiving briefings on its status, and Gunn said he hopes to see a liaison appointed to the Police Commission to give some indication when inquiries could endanger the criminal investigation.

In a related development, City Attorney James Hahn issued a legal opinion saying the city can use lie detectors to question applicants to the LAPD, as Parks has called for.

``Not only do I think requiring all sworn police applicants to undergo polygraph tests is legally defensible, but I believe it should be put into practice as soon as possible,'' Hahn said. ``The city has a compelling interest in selecting men and women of ability, integrity and mature judgment to be police officers.''

Hahn said he based his opinion on two recent court rulings regarding testing of employees and job applicants.

The Board of Inquiry report has proved to be popular reading. The LAPD's Internet site - www.lapdonline.org - had more than 230,000 hits on Wednesday when the report was published. Normally, the Web site receives 100,000 hits a day.

The report will be made available at all public libraries.

The Police Commission also will hold a series of public hearings - all from 6:30 to 8 p.m. - on the report beginning March 14 at the L.A. Mart, 1933 S. Broadway, Los Angeles.

Subsequent meetings will be held March 21 at Los Angeles Mission College, 13356 Eldridge Ave., Sylmar; March 28 at the Kedren Community Health Center, 710 E. 111th Place, Los Angeles; April 4 at a site to be announced in West Los Angeles; and April 11 at the Church on the Way, 14300 Sherman Way, Van Nuys.