LOS ANGELES�Police Chief Bernard Parks was hired to lead the Los Angeles Police Department after two other chiefs had moved on following riots sparked by acquittals of officers accused of beating Rodney King.

Now Chief Parks faces his own challenge: a police gang crimes unit scandal that may impact some 3,000 cases. The scandal already has a cop admitting stealing cocaine from an evidence locker, stories of evidence planting, shootings of unarmed civilians, and general mayhem in the Rampart Division of the anti-gang CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) Unit.

Thus far Chief Parks has made some changes and offered a plan that would rotate officers through gang units, apparently to lessen temptation and time to do dirty deeds.

�I don�t think he�s completely caught in the middle, but he can be unless he is able to pick up solid, broad-based support,� said Celes King, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality and a bail bondsman. He has known the chief and the chief�s father for over 30 years.

�Actually, Chief Parks has taken the position of being a very tough cop on cops. He has probably dismissed or fired more police officers than any prior chief over such a short period of time,� Mr. King said.

Min. Tony Muhammad, Nation of Islam western regional minister, believes the chief will have to make an example of rouge cops. �If he and the DA�s office prosecute them like they do the poor, I think that would begin to mend and help heal the gaping wounds that lie within the community,� he said.

In mid-January, reports of suspensions with pay of four LAPD officers came out. The suspensions resulted from confessions of cover-ups and corruption involving the Rampart CRASH Unit by the central figure in LAPD�s biggest scandal ever, former CRASH Unit officer Rafael Perez.

As part of a September 1999 plea bargain for stealing eight pounds of cocaine from an evidence room, Mr. Perez has revealed cases of police misconduct and some have been confirmed by LAPD and district attorney investigators. According to LAPD spokesperson Sgt. John Pasquariello, in order for Mr. Perez to receive a reduced sentence, everything he reveals must be proved true. 

Prior to the most recent suspensions, 12 officers connected to the CRASH Unit at the time of Mr. Perez�s allegations were relieved of duty, but no criminal charges have been filed against them.

�It would be irresponsible of me to say that any number of cases have been tainted or effected by Perez, but it is realistic for me to state that we will investigate all cases within our office in which Perez was a principal witness,� said Victoria Pipkin, director of media relations for the DA�s office. LAPD and the DA�s office are corroborating information given by Mr. Perez, as the investigation moves forward.

A police department spokesperson also declined to confirm any suspensions as the criminal investigation continues. He did confirm that Chief Parks has convened an internal board of inquiry to further investigate the scandal.

�There have been quite a few cases in the community where I grew up where the CRASH Division was known for planting drugs, weed, cellular phones that were stolen, and even guns. It made me feel agitated and irritated because no one would listen to us,� said Bo Taylor of Unity One, a gang intervention/prevention organization.

Those fortunate enough to survive their encounters with the CRASH Unit and Mr. Perez have had their convictions overturned or charges against them dropped (11 to date). But not Juan Saldana, who was killed in a questionable shooting, or Javier Ovando, left crippled by a police gunshot to the head, or Esa Booker, who Deputy Public Defender Jeri Polen noted served five years for cocaine possession. He claimed all along that he did not have the drugs.

The corruption admissions by Mr. Perez and overturned convictions support claims of innocence, but are a small step toward vindication.

�Since people of color have already been characterized through the media as criminals and less than human, they are easy prey. Perez has not just betrayed his badge and the law that he should uphold, but he has also betrayed his people,� said Min. Tony.

Mr. Taylor says he and countless others complained of police abuse, evidence planting, gang manipulation and even prosecutorial misconduct, but complaints fell on deaf ears. 

He also charged police with trying to start a race war between Blacks and Latinos that was thwarted by organizations like Unity One, No Guns, Exodus and community residents.

�The CRASH Unit would do a drive-by and then call or ride through the neighborhood the next day claiming that the set�s enemy did the shooting,� Mr. Taylor said, describing how a Venice, Calif., grandmother once saw two policemen do a drive-by. She identified them as CRASH members because they forgot to take off their shoulder patches, he said.

The community was �apathetic, but now with the Rampart cover-ups coming to light, they believe, but only because it�s on TV.  ... I cannot imagine why people who have been done wrong for so long, even after the enemy shows its hand, they still won�t address it or challenge racist laws,� the activist continued. He hopes the scandal will help produce greater unity.

According to activist Donald Evans of the National Association of Brothers and Sisters In and Out, community silence may not be apathy, but fatigue. 

�For so long the inner city public has spoken out about police brutality and corruption, and no one would listen. I think they�re just tired, but I am amazed that the clergy are not speaking out more against it,� said the head of the Los Angeles-based prison ministry.

�We�re so busy trying to get employment, decent housing, and health care that what appears as apathy is the result of caring for other equally important issues,� he continued, saying churches and mosques need to forge a united front against police abuse.

Black men and women complained of set-ups by police and many accepted deals for lesser sentences when they were innocent, Mr. Evans said, pointing out that while much of the Rampart focus has been on Latinos, Blacks were also victims of cop misconduct.

To one Latino community activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, what does not sit well is that the primary focus stays on Mr. Perez, a Latino. �Perez is the only one who got caught,� the activist said. There are more officers involved and Mr. Perez was a coconut, �Brown on the outside, but white on the inside,� he added.

�I feel hurt that we try so hard as an organization to bring more positives to our youth in the community, but someone from our own race has slandered the opportunity for us to become more successful,� he said.

�I don�t know what it�s going to take for LAPD and authorities to take a hard, long look to get to the bottom of this and really make an honest effort to change things, but it�s happening too many times,� complained public defender Jeri Polen, whose office handles 15-30 cases at once, depending on the severity of the crimes. Her staff is tracking cases that involved Mr. Perez and other implicated officers.

Public defenders have a sense that the system is very biased in law enforcement and judges, who are primarily ex-prosecutors, and �always believe that the police are telling the truth and that the people arrested are always guilty,� Ms. Polen stated.

Not everyone claiming innocence is telling the truth, but logic says not everyone accused is guilty, she reasoned.

The huge police misconduct scandal has not captured the national media spotlight many feel it deserves.

�It�s like the issue has run its course with the general public and the issues of racial profiling, police shootings, corruption, planting evidence, and lying and abuse of authority are simply not issues that the media can capitalize and sensationalize on, and therefore, it has become a non-issue,� said Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a political commentator, author and activist.

The media will always gingerly move around police violence because they are part of the establishment that the media represents, he argued. 

Mr. Hutchinson feels there is a level of community confidence that Chief Parks will root out the problem.

  Since the King beating and 1992 riots, activists have tried to set up civilian review boards. LAPD has fought feverishly against that, and won. One inspector general resigned, citing a lack of cooperation by the department. The current inspector general has complained of similar issues, saying it is difficult to investigate the force.