GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER VALLEY SLAYINGS JUMP 90 PERCENT SOME DIVISIONS SOLVE 66% FEWER CASES COPS BLAME STAFF SHORTAGES, LOSS OF SPECIAL UNITS, RED TAPE.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

Despite soaring murder rates in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Police Department has solved fewer cases - a problem authorities blame on a shortage of manpower, an increase in red tape and the elimination of specialized intelligence units.

So-called clearance rates - cases in which an arrest has been made - have dipped as much as 66 percent in some of the Valley's five homicide units. At the same time, homicides in the Valley have soared by more than 90 percent since 2000.

``(Detectives) don't have the resources that they need, the personnel and the freedom to concentrate on one particular case,'' said Capt. Jim Tatreau, head of the Robbery-Homicide Division, the clearinghouse for intelligence for homicides citywide. ``They keep catching more cases, and there's limited overtime hours.''

Tighter restrictions imposed in the wake of the Rampart Division scandal have made many officers less willing to do aggressive police work, officials said. In addition, the department's short-staffed forensics unit downtown isn't able to process evidence as quickly, which also slows investigations.

``Certainly there is a reluctance by many police to do proactive or aggressive police work,'' Tatreau said. ``The demise of CRASH (anti-gang units) caused a void in field enforcement and investigations of gang crime.''

Joe Gunn, executive director of the Police Commission that oversees LAPD operations, says it's not the post-Rampart rules that are the biggest obstacle in solving murders.

``The big stumbling block is the lack of manpower,'' he said. ``Detectives are inundated with new cases. We need to get more people out there.''

City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant, agreed.

``The department is under-deployed. They don't have adequate staffing for patrol functions and detective follow-up functions,'' he said. ``This is part of the crisis facing the LAPD. It's a crisis we're going to be fixing real quick.''

With the hope of building special enforcement units, the Police Commission and department brass decided this week to reassign 35 detectives from the anti-drug DARE unit to work the especially hard-hit narcotics units beginning June 1.

Narcotics cops, who deal with some of the most violent drug dealers, often lend their expertise to homicide detectives.

Other detectives complain the amount of paperwork they have to complete immediately after the crime keeps them from working to find the offender.

``We file hundreds of reports alone on one case,'' said Chuck Lenane, a homicide detective in the Foothill Division. ``Now it seems like cases are solved a lot later than earlier.''

One major post-Rampart stumbling block is that it is more difficult to secure a search warrant now, detectives said.

``It takes five times as long to get a warrant anymore,'' said a seasoned LAPD homicide detective, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. ``It's frustrating. The department is constantly coming up with things that makes the job more difficult ... It's a paper monster.''

If a case isn't solved within 60 days, detectives are required to file follow-up reports, apprising their supervisors of the status of their cases.

One of the biggest reasons for the delay in solving a case after two months, detectives said, is that they are still waiting for evidence to be analyzed at the department's Scientific Investigation Division downtown.

``It's an age-old problem,'' said a Valley detective.

The SID unit has filled vacant jobs in recent months, but police said it takes time to train new hires in investigative techniques.

The Valley's decline in solving murder cases is part of a department- wide trend.

Citywide, detectives are solving just 53 percent of the cases, while they strive for a 70 percent to 80 percent rate, police said. There are also 4,262 ``cold cases'' - crimes committed as long ago as 1985 - that police have yet to solve.

In the Valley, detectives lament the loss of specialized teams who provided the much-needed surveillance efforts to catch a killer.

``They were very important,'' said LAPD Lt. George Rock, head of the detectives in Foothill Division. ``Detectives are not trained in surveillance activities ... nor do they have time.''

Detectives can still call on the highly specialized Special Investigation Section for high-profile cases. But with citywide jurisdiction and requests from the LAPD's 18 divisions, they are spread thin.

``It's very difficult to get help,'' Rock said.

Many detectives relied on intelligence from the field to find elusive killers.

``They took away a lot of surveillance units that we could have used,'' said Lenane, the Foothill detective, who is handling at least three homicide cases that occurred this year and a handful from last year. ``They broke up a lot the guys that knew a lot of the gangsters.''

At Foothill Division in Pacoima, three teams of two detectives each have handled an average of about 12 cases each last year, and there seems to be no letup anytime soon.

The division added two investigators a few years ago to help work the 71 ``cold'' cases lingering on the shelves.

``We can barely keep up with fresh cases,'' Rock said. ``We're hampered definitely. We need additional personnel.''

Devonshire Division has been hit fairly hard and early with their caseload spiking. With 11 homicides on the books since January - equal to the same amount over the entire year of 1999 - division heads have reassigned three detectives from other areas to help reduce the burgeoning caseload.

``It hit us right between the eyes,'' said Capt. Joe Curreri, Devonshire's top cop. ``The guys were very, very busy. Homicides tie up a lot of man-hours.''

JUST THE FACTS

Immediately after a homicide, detectives can spend eight hours or more at the scene. Their duties include:

--Canvassing for witnesses.

--Looking for clues and gathering evidence.

--Collecting blood samples.

--Photographing the scene.

--Working with the Scientific Investigation Division.

--Trying to identify the victim.

--Contacting victim's family.

--Building a time line.

After the initial investigation, homicide detectives are tasked with building their case through several documents. They include:

--Chronological records.

--Initial death report.

--Homicide case report.

--Witness statements.

--Arrest reports.

--Search warrant reports.

--Property and evidence reports.

--Press releases.

CAPTION(S):

3 boxes, map

Box:

(1) JUST THE FACTS (see text)

(2) ARREST MADE

SOURCE: Los Angeles Police Department

(3 -- box/map) VALLEY HOMICIDES IN LAPD DIVISIONS

SOURCE: Daily News research by Jason Kandel

Warren Huskey/Staff Artist