POST-FUHRMAN REFORMS IN PLACE, PARKS DECLARES; STEPS AIMED AT BAD COPS.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Three years after audiotapes of LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman shocked the nation with descriptions of officer brutality, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said Tuesday his agency has taken significant steps to make sure bad cops are rooted out.

In a report to the Police Commission on the status of 26 recommendations that came out of the Fuhrman investigation, Parks said more than half have been put in place, including creation of a system to identify patterns of officer misconduct that are to be considered in weighing discipline and officer credibility.

The report stated that related recommendations by the inspector general to reform the Los Angeles Police Department's disciplinary system are 95 percent completed.

``These two reports particularly challenged the department to examine its personnel systems and ensure they not only performed the purpose for which they were intended, but generate public confidence in its Police Department as well,'' Parks said.

The Fuhrman tapes, made by aspiring screenwriter Laura McKinney, were used by defense attorneys for O.J. Simpson to discredit the LAPD and win acquittal of the former football star on charges of killing one of his ex-wives and another man.

Fuhrman was taped recounting incidents where he and other officers allegedly beat and framed minority suspects and referred to them with racial epithets. He also described mistreatment of women officers at the West Los Angeles Division, where he claimed to be part of a group called Men Against Women.

``The allegations contained in those tapes described egregious, systemic misconduct,'' Parks said.

However, Fuhrman later said he was exaggerating, and an LAPD investigation failed to substantiate much of the misconduct Fuhrman spoke of, although it sharply criticized the former detective for his racist comments and alleged biased treatment of women at the division.

The chief's report said his department has implemented recommendations in the Fuhrman investigation aimed at eliminating hostile work environments, including the deployment of female sergeants to the West Los Angeles Division. The department has also provided in-service training classes that mix command officers and line officers to improve human relations.

Parks added that the LAPD is using mental health experts to screen out recruits who might share Fuhrman's traits of dishonesty and racial and gender bias.

The department has not completed implementation of recommendations to hold command officers accountable for systemic misconduct by officers under their command. Parks said his agency also is still developing a mediation program to resolve internal disputes between officers.

The only recommendation by the inspector general that has not been put in place is to tape-record all complaints made by telephone to the front desks of police stations.

Parks said the department is still trying to find money to pay for the taping system.