LAPD ISSUES FUHRMAN REPORT : OFFICIALS: MOST INCIDENTS ON TAPE OVERSTATED; ANTI-WOMAN GROUP CONFIRMED.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

An LAPD probe concluded Monday that former Detective Mark Fuhrman exaggerated most claims of beating and framing suspects but disclosed real misconduct in describing a group called Men Against Women that mistreated female officers.

The investigation was begun in August 1995 after the existence of audio-taped interviews with Fuhrman was disclosed during the O.J. Simpson criminal trial.

The 17-month, $800,000 investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department's Internal Affairs Division disputes assertions made by Fuhrman in the interviews for aspiring screenwriter Laura McKinny that the LAPD was plagued by systemic problems of racism and brutality, officials said.

``With the exception of the Men Against Women issue, just about everything Fuhrman told McKinny which could be connected to an actual event was bigger, bloodier and more violent than the facts,'' Police Chief Willie L. Williams said at a Parker Center news conference where he released the report.

Police Commission President Ray Fisher said Fuhrman did a ``terrible disservice'' to the LAPD by alleging widespread brutality, planting of evidence and racist behavior.

``This report, I hope, puts that myth back where it belongs,'' Fisher said.

The existence of the tapes is believed to have been a major factor that derailed the Simpson case, because Fuhrman uses a racially derogatory word in the tapes that he had denied on the witness stand that he had used.

Fuhrman, who could not be reached for comment Monday, pleaded no contest last year to perjury in the Simpson case.

The internal affairs report calls for the department to take a hard line on dishonesty by officers in the wake of the Fuhrman case.

Also, the 69-page report says the investigation did confirm claims by Fuhrman of the existence and sexist activity of a group of male officers called Men Against Women at the West Los Angeles Division between 1985 and 1994.

The report is especially critical of management at that division for failing to punish officers who ostracized female officers and treated them in a sexist way.

The investigation resulted in seven sustained allegations of misconduct against West Los Angeles officers, which included giving a false statement, contributing to a hostile work environment, refusing to acknowledge or associate with a woman officer and making inappropriate comments.

However, officials said that because of the statute of limitations, officers only faced paper reprimands, although 29 officers and supervisors were transferred out of the division after a 1994 audit of misconduct allegations.

Penny Harrington of the National Center for Women in Policing also criticized the department for not dealing harshly with officers who engage in sexual harassment. She said the report provides evidence of the need for an outside investigation of gender bias in the LAPD.

``Widespread sexual harassment, intimidation and threats against women on the force remain a serious problem on the LAPD - a problem made worse by the apparent complicity of the top command of the department,'' said Harrington, the former police chief of Portland, Ore.

Women officers interviewed by investigators said they did not feel they would get backup from male officers during emergency situations.

``Unfortunately, it was glaringly apparent that much of the conduct described in 1985 had endured,'' the report said, calling it ``chilling'' that Fuhrman never mentioned nor apparently even considered that a supervisor would challenge him in his mistreatment of women.

Williams said ``overall it's a better environment'' for women in the West Los Angeles Division today but that there are still problems in the department and the report identifies several changes to make sure misconduct is not allowed to occur in the future.

The recommendations include holding command officers accountable for failing to discipline subordinates who engage in misconduct, improving record keeping and retention and looking at patterns of unresolved complaints against officers in addition to each complaint individually.

The report already has been sent to the Department of Justice, which is conducting its own review of Fuhrman's claims, Fisher said.

The review of the tapes made between 1985 and 1994 identified 29 incidents of police misconduct that were mentioned by Fuhrman, including 12 that were matched to real incidents that resulted in personnel complaints and 17 not connected to any known event.

The 17 issues not connected to actual events including choking a suspect to death, shooting a drug suspect, vandalizing a women's gymnasium, six separate beating incidents, including one at the end of a pursuit, making a false arrest, falsifying evidence and holding a post-shooting party.

Of the 12 incidents connected to real events, investigators failed to confirm Fuhrman's version in most.

In one case, Fuhrman described a 1978 shooting of a police officer in the Hollenbeck Division, which Fuhrman said resulted in officers beating suspects until their faces were ``mush,'' and holding a woman by the hair while pointing a gun at her.

However, the investigation said officers on the scene denied the charges and photographs and eyewitness testimony disputed Fuhrman's claim of extensive brutality.

The report also addressed why Fuhrman remained on the force after telling department psychiatrists in 1981 that he felt hostility to minorities and deserved a disability pension.

The investigation found that an LAPD doctor believed Fuhrman had no work-related disability and that the department was taking a hard-line on such claims, given a run on the pension system at the time.