LAPD SEEKING TO RELAX RULES ON INFORMANTS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

Stressing the need to fight gang crime, Los Angeles police want to ease a post-Rampart scandal restriction on the use of confidential informants.

The Police Commission on Tuesday endorsed an LAPD pilot program that would allow uniformed gang enforcement officers to use confidential - and, in some cases, paid - informants. The practice is banned under the federal consent decree because it was abused by officers involved in the LAPD's Rampart Division scandal.

``I want to be able to give the tools to our gang-detail people to be able to start cultivating informants,'' said Deputy Chief Michael Hillmann. ``They're out there, and these guys are on the ground. They're talking to people all the time.''

The move concerned some civil libertarians, who see the restriction as one of the key reforms the LAPD adopted after Rampart, in which officers planted evidence and trumped up charges against suspects.

``It's very alarming to think the department would potentially move backwards on one of these fundamental issues with regard to the consent decree,'' said Ricardo Garcia, criminal-justice director for the ACLU of Southern California.

Under the consent decree, only nonuniformed officers can use confidential informants, and Hillman said specialized detectives such as those in the Narcotics Division commonly do so.

Now the LAPD would like to expand the practice to the uniformed gang officers, who are often the first to respond to crime scenes where fresh information is available, and who deal directly with residents.

But Garcia said confidential informants are of dubious value, so it is important to have limits such as the ones set by the consent decree.

``It's problematic in that you have a situation where officers are potentially purchasing information from informants who have every incentive to create information that benefits themselves,'' he said. ``The reason why you give it to detectives and specialized officers is to monitor the credibility of this information.''

Under the pilot program, uniformed officers in the Hollywood and Rampart divisions would adhere to the controls the consent decree imposes on detectives who use confidential sources.

The uniformed officers would undergo four hours of special training and would have to complete detailed reports about their contacts with confidential sources. They would also contribute to a department database that flags unreliable informants.

That contrasts with the behavior that contributed to the Rampart scandal, Hillmann said, in which officers in a special gang unit handled informants without oversight.

To make sure the controls are followed, the LAPD is seeking to phase in the plan, starting with the six-month pilot program the Police Commission signed off on Tuesday. It will also go to the City Council, though the plan has already received the crucial approval of federal and judicial authorities overseeing the consent decree, said Gerald Chaleff, commanding officer of the LAPD's Consent Decree Bureau.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com