EDITORIAL MOST DANGEROUS CITY ... BRATTON'S CHALLENGE MUST GIVE LAPD OFFICERS PAUSE.

IMAGINE you're a veteran cop on the Los Angeles Police Department. You've been through it all, the bad times and the worse times.

You were on the force when Daryl Gates allowed the abuses that led to Rodney King's beating go unchecked and pulled back your officers at the flashpoint of the riots, allowing an incident to become a catastrophe.

You were around when Willie Williams allowed the department to fall to shambles and got sacked himself.

You were around when hyper-disciplinarian Bernard Parks took over, making life miserable for any cop accused, rightly or wrongly, of any infraction, no matter how petty.

In time, he got sacked, too.

You could say you've seen it all: You saw a few rogue cops in the Rampart Division bring down the reputation of the entire department. You saw all the downtown establishment turn its back on you, condemning you and all your colleagues as racist thugs.

You saw City Hall betray you by signing off on a federal consent decree that's forced you to do your job with one hand tied behind your back. You've had your every motion and thought analyzed by federal overseers, ready to destroy your career at the first perceived sign of excess.

You've seen colleagues take a cautious approach to policing for fear that aggressive policing would cost them their careers.

But suddenly, the situation has changed. Crime is resurgent and gang violence is out of control. L.A. has become the murder capital of America, and in the past two weeks alone, gang violence took eight lives in South Central.

And now there's a new chief, one with a reputation for getting things done and getting his name in the paper. He's venting about the gang problem and vowing to get tough. His spokesman says area commanders will be held responsible for what occurs in their areas.

In other words, the top brass is counting on you to reverse the trend in the gang war.

How do you respond?

Do you do your job more aggressively, as the new mandate would require, while treating everyone you encounter, even hoodlums, with complete respect?

How do you know the top brass will defend you when the professional cop-bashers start to protest a stepped-up, tough-on-crime police presence, as they always do?

Will Chief William Bratton and the new command staff stand behind you, or will they make you the scapegoat - like Los Angeles officials have so many times before?

What happens the first time an officer uses his weapon in an ambiguous situation, which is nearly all them? Will the LAPD brass and civilian overseers who challenged you to be bold and proactive own up to their responsibility?

If you're a veteran cop, you have to hope that this time it will be different, but you've also got good reason to be skeptical.

Bratton has inherited a legacy of betrayal and mistrust. The city's political leadership hasn't shown the backbone to stand up for the officers who enforce law and and bring order to our streets.

Before Bratton can erase the city's gang problem, he must first erase the legacy that puts cops' careers - and sometimes their lives - at stake for doing their jobs properly.

Until then, if you're a veteran cop, maybe the best you can do is just wait and see. But please remember: L.A. needs you.