Rampart scandal

The Rampart scandal involved widespread police corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers either assigned to or associated with the Rampart CRASH unit were implicated in some form of misconduct, making it one of the most widespread cases of documented police corruption in U.S. history, responsible for a long list of offenses including unprovoked shootings, unprovoked beatings, planting of false evidence, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and the covering up of evidence of these activities.[1]

The New Rampart Police Station

The Rampart investigation, based mainly on statements of admitted corrupt CRASH officer Rafael Pérez, initially implicated over 70 officers in wrongdoing. Of those officers, enough evidence was found to bring 58 before an internal administrative board. However, only 24 were actually found to have committed any wrongdoing, with twelve given suspensions of various lengths, seven forced into resignation or retirement, and five terminated.[2]

As a result of the probe into falsified evidence and police perjury, 106 prior criminal convictions were overturned.[3] The scandal resulted in more than 140 civil lawsuits against the city of Los Angeles, California, costing the city an estimated $125 million in settlements.[4]

Partly as a result of the scandal, Mayor James K. Hahn did not rehire Police Chief Bernard Parks in 2002. Both the scandal and the de facto firing of Parks are believed to have precipitated Hahn's defeat by Antonio Villaraigosa in the 2005 mayoral election.[5] As of 2020, the full extent of Rampart corruption is not known, and several rape, homicide and robbery investigations involving Rampart officers remain unsolved.[6][7]

Timeline of scandal

March 18, 1997 – Officer Kevin Gaines road rage shootout

Around 4 p.m. on March 18, 1997, LAPD undercover officer Frank Lyga shot and killed Rampart CRASH officer Kevin Gaines in self-defense, following a case of apparent road rage.[6][8] According to Lyga and other witnesses' testimony, Gaines pulled his green Mitsubishi Montero up to Lyga's Buick and flashed gang signs.[8]

After Gaines followed Lyga and brandished a .45 ACP handgun, Lyga took out his gun and called for backup using a hidden radio activated by a foot pedal, saying, "Hey, I got a problem. I've got a black guy in a green Jeep coming up here! He's got a gun!" Pulling up at a stop light, Lyga later testified that he heard Gaines shout, "I'll cap you." Lyga fired his 9×19mm Beretta 92 duty pistol into Gaines' SUV twice, one of the bullets lodging in his heart. Lyga radioed one final transmission: "I just shot this guy! I need help! Get up here!" Lyga reported that Gaines was the first to pull a gun and that he responded in self-defense.

In an interview on PBS' Frontline, he said, "In my training experience this guy had 'I'm a gang member' written all over him." Inside of Gaines's car, a Death Row Greatest Hits CD was found, as he was listening to Death Row's inclusion of No Vaseline at the time of the confrontation.

In the ensuing investigation, the LAPD discovered that Gaines had apparently been involved in similar road rage incidents, threatening drivers by brandishing his gun. The investigation also revealed that Gaines was associated with both the Death Row Records record label and its controversial owner and CEO, Suge Knight.

Investigators learned that Death Row Records, which was alleged to be associated with the Bloods street gang, was hiring off-duty LAPD officers to serve as security guards. Following three separate internal investigations, Lyga was exonerated of any wrongdoing. The LAPD concluded that Lyga's shooting was "in policy" and not racially or improperly motivated.[4]

Within three days of the incident, the Gaines family had retained attorney Johnnie Cochran and filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, California, for $25 million. The city eventually settled with Cochran for $250,000.[4]

Lyga was angry the city settled, denying him the chance to fully clear his name. Judge Schoettler wrote a letter to LAPD Chief Bernard Parks, stating, "Had the matter been submitted to me for a determination, I would have found in favor of the City of Los Angeles." Schoettler's letter alleged political reasons for settling the case, namely City Attorney James K. Hahn's planned run for mayor and his desire to court black voters.[4]

November 6, 1997 – Officer David Mack bank robbery

On November 6, 1997, $722,000 was stolen in an armed robbery of a Los Angeles branch of Bank of America. After one month of investigation, assistant bank manager Errolyn Romero confessed to her role in the crime and implicated her boyfriend, LAPD officer David Mack, as the mastermind. Mack was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in federal prison. He has never revealed the whereabouts of the money and while incarcerated, bragged to fellow inmates that he would become a millionaire by the time of his release.[6] He was released from prison on May 14, 2010.[9]

February 26, 1998 – Rampart Station beating

On February 26, 1998, Rampart CRASH officer Brian Hewitt brought Ismael Jimenez, a member of the 18th Street Gang, into the Rampart police station for questioning. According to CRASH officer Rafael Pérez's recorded testimony, Hewitt "got off" on beating suspects. In the course of questioning, he beat the handcuffed Jimenez in the chest and stomach until he vomited blood.

After his release, Jimenez went to the emergency room and told doctors he had been beaten by Hewitt and his partner Daniel Lujan while in custody. Following an investigation, Hewitt was fired from the LAPD. Jimenez was awarded $231,000 in a civil settlement with the city of Los Angeles. Hewitt served time in federal prison for the distribution of drugs and conspiracy to commit murder and has since been released.[4]

May 1998 – Investigative task force created

On March 27, 1998, LAPD officials discovered that eight pounds of cocaine were missing from an evidence room. Within a week, detectives focused their investigation on Pérez. Concerned with a CRASH unit that had officers working off-duty for Death Row Records, robbing banks, and stealing cocaine, Parks established an internal investigative task force in May 1998.

The task force, later named the Rampart Corruption Task Force, focused on the prosecution of Pérez. Completing an audit of the LAPD property room revealed another pound of missing cocaine which had been booked following a prior arrest by Lyga, the officer who had shot Gaines the year before. Investigators speculated that Pérez may have stolen the cocaine booked by Lyga in retaliation for Gaines' shooting.[4]

August 25, 1998 – Pérez arrested

Pérez, at that time a nine-year veteran of the LAPD, was arrested on August 25, 1998, for the unauthorized withdrawal and theft of six pounds of cocaine from the evidence room. The cocaine was estimated to be worth $800,000 on the street, or $120,000 wholesale. Although Perez signed a phony name on the forms when he checked out the drugs, his signature was a "dead bang" match.[10][11]

As he was arrested, Pérez reportedly asked, "Is this about the bank robbery?" He would later deny that he had any knowledge of Mack's bank robbery and never testified against Mack. Investigators would later discover eleven additional instances of suspicious cocaine transfers. Pérez eventually admitted to ordering cocaine evidence out of property and replacing it with Bisquick.[4]

On September 8, 1999, following a mistrial, Pérez agreed to cut a deal with investigators. He pleaded guilty to the cocaine theft in exchange for providing prosecutors information about two "bad" shootings and three other CRASH officers engaged in illegal activity. For this deal, Pérez received a five-year prison sentence as well as immunity from further prosecution of misconduct short of murder.

Over the next nine months, he met with investigators more than 50 times and provided more than 4,000 pages in sworn testimony. Pérez's testimony implicated about 70 officers of misconduct, but only a dozen officers were suspended or forced to resign.[4]

Framing

Pérez framed four members of the Temple Street gang as being associated with the murder of Mexican Mafia member Miguel "Lizard" Malfavon. The incident took place at a McDonald's on Alvarado Street, where four supposed members all planned to kill Malfavon while he tried to collect "taxes" from the gang.

Pérez found a material witness who had blood on her dress, and she named four gang members from Temple Street. He repeatedly changed the name of the main killer and ended up framing Anthony "Stymie" Adams as the one who fatally shot Malfavon in the head with a rifle in the neighboring apartment.[12]

CRASH culture

In extensive testimony to investigators, Pérez provided a detailed portrait of the culture of the elite CRASH unit. Pérez insisted that 90% of CRASH officers were "in the loop", knowingly framing civilians and perjuring themselves on the witness stand. Pérez claims his superiors were aware of and encouraged CRASH officers to engage in misconduct; the goal of the unit was to arrest gang members by any means necessary.

Pérez claimed CRASH officers were awarded plaques for shooting civilians and suspects, with extra honors if such persons were killed. Pérez alleges that CRASH officers carried spare guns in their "war bags" to plant on civilians and suspects, in order to avoid responsibility for their alleged crime. In recorded testimony, Pérez revealed the CRASH motto: "We intimidate those who intimidate others."[3]

CRASH officers would get together at a bar near Dodger Stadium in Echo Park to drink and celebrate shootings. Supervisors handed out plaques to shooters, containing red or black playing cards. A red card indicated a wounding and a black card indicated a killing, which was considered more prestigious. Pérez testified that at least one Rampart lieutenant attended these celebrations.[13]

Rampart officers wore tattoos of the CRASH logo, a skull with a cowboy hat encircled with poker cards depicting the "dead man's hand", aces and eights.[13]

Rampart ties to Death Row Records

The Rampart Corruption Task Force investigators discovered that hip hop mogul Suge Knight, owner of Death Row Records, had hired several of the corrupt Rampart officers for security at various times including Nino Durden, Kevin Gaines, David Mack, and Rafael Pérez. Knight was hiring off-duty Rampart policemen to work for Death Row as security guards for substantial amounts of money. After Gaines was killed, investigators discovered Gaines drove a Mercedes-Benz and wore designer suits, and they found a receipt in his apartment for a $952 restaurant tab at the Los Angeles hangout, Monty's Steakhouse.[6]

Ties to the Bloods

According to Frank Lyga, who shot him, Kevin Gaines was flashing gang signs and waving a gun.[14]

Ties to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

On April 16, 2007, the estate of Christopher George Latore Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, which also named as defendants Rampart officers Durden, Mack, and Pérez.[15] The lawsuit alleges that Durden, Mack, and Pérez conspired to murder Christopher Wallace, and Pérez and Mack were present on the night of the murder outside the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard, on March 9, 1997.[16] On April 5, 2010, the Wallace family voluntarily dismissed this lawsuit and the claims against the City and the Rampart officers. Perry R. Sanders Jr., a lawyer for the estate, insisted the case was being withdrawn only to avoid interfering with what he called a "reinvigorated" police investigation, and he emphasized that since the suit was dismissed without prejudice, it could be refiled.[17]

LAPD investigators Brian Tyndall and Russell Poole also believed Mack and other Rampart police were involved in a conspiracy to kill Wallace.[18] Poole claimed that Chief Bernard Parks refused to investigate their claims of Mack's involvement, suppressed their 40-page report, and instructed investigators not to pursue their inquiry. Poole, an 18-year veteran of the force, quit the LAPD in protest, and later filed a lawsuit against the LAPD for violating his First Amendment rights by preventing him from making his information public.[19]

Record settlement

The city of Los Angeles faced more than 140 civil suits resulting from the Rampart scandal and paid total estimated settlement costs around $125 million.[4]

Javier Ovando was awarded a $15 million settlement on November 21, 2000, the largest police misconduct settlement in Los Angeles history. Twenty-nine other civil suits were settled for nearly $11 million.[4]

Rampart investigation cover up

There have been multiple allegations that Chief Bernard Parks and members of the LAPD were actively involved in obstructing the Rampart Investigation.[20] Parks was in charge of Internal Affairs when Gaines and other Rampart officers were first discovered to have ties to the Bloods and Death Row Records. Parks is said to have protected these officers from investigation.[7]

According to Rampart Corruption Task Force Detective Poole, Chief Parks failed to pursue the Hewitt Investigation for a full six months. When Poole presented Parks with a 40-page report detailing the connection between Mack and the murder of Notorious B.I.G., the report was suppressed.[7]

On September 26, 2000, Poole filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and Chief Parks. Poole, lead investigator on the Lyga-Gaines shooting and member of the Rampart Corruption Task Force, resigned from the Department and claimed in his civil suit that Parks shut down his efforts to fully investigate the extent of corruption within the Department.

Poole specified conversations and direct orders in which Chief Parks prevented him from pursuing his investigation of the criminal activities of David Mack and Kevin Gaines, notably involving the investigation of the murder of Christopher Wallace.[21]

Many city officials, including Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, expressed a lack of confidence with Parks' handling of the investigation.[21]

On September 19, 2000, the Los Angeles City Council voted 10 to 2 to accept a consent decree allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee and monitor reforms within the LAPD for a period of five years. The Justice Department, which had been investigating the LAPD since 1996, agreed not to pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Bernard Parks opposed the consent decree, but were forced to back down in the face of overwhelming support by the city council.[22]

The "L.A.P.D. Board of Inquiry into the Rampart Area Corruption Incident" report was released in March 2000. It made 108 recommendations for changes in LAPD policies and procedures. The Board of Inquiry report, sanctioned by Parks, was widely criticized for not addressing structural problems within the LAPD.[22]

"An Independent Analysis of the Los Angeles Police Department's Board of Inquiry Report on the Rampart Scandal" was published in September 2000 by University of Southern California Law School Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, currently the Dean of University of California, Berkeley School of Law, at the request of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police union. Chemerinsky outlined six specific criticisms of the Board of Inquiry report, namely that the LAPD minimized the scope and nature of the corruption, and abetted the corruption through its own internal negligence or corrupt policies. Chemerinsky called for an independent commission to investigate corruption and a consent decree between the City of Los Angeles and the Justice Department to monitor effective reform.[22]

The "Report of the Rampart Independent Review Panel", published in November 2000, created by a panel of over 190 community members, issued 72 findings and 86 recommendations. The report noted the Police Commission had been "undermined by the Mayor's Office" and that the Inspector General's Office had been "hindered by ... lack of cooperation by the (LAPD) in responding to requests for information".[22]

Political and cultural aftermath

The newly elected Mayor James K. Hahn did not rehire Police Chief Bernard Parks in 2002. This arguably caused Hahn to lose the support of South Los Angeles' black community, leading to his defeat by Antonio Villaraigosa in the 2005 election.[5]

In 2002, the television series The Shield premiered, depicting a band of rogue Los Angeles police officers. The program was so directly inspired by the Rampart Scandal that "Rampart" was nearly used as the series title.[23] The title was presumably changed in order to avoid potential production issues and conflicts with the LAPD.

In 2003, the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel, chaired by Constance L. Rice of the Advancement Project, was convened by the Los Angeles Police Commission and Chief William J. Bratton. The panel's report was made public in 2006.

In the film Crash (2004), a black police officer is shot by an off-duty white officer, in a turn of events very similar to the Kevin Gaines shooting. The black officer is later found out to be corrupt, just as in the case of Kevin Gaines. In the film, the corrupt nature of the black officer is suppressed by the mayor hopeful, in order to gain the black vote.

The action thriller movie Cellular (2004) featured a plot involving corrupt LAPD cops. Though it was not a serious crime drama, it used the Rampart scandal to lend some credibility to the plot, showing a documentary segment of the Rampart scandal in the bonus features of the DVD.

The plot of Rockstar Games' controversial game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), set in 1992 in the fictional city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), involves three corrupt CRASH officers. The CRASH motto, "intimidate those who intimidate others", is earlier spoken directly by one of these characters.

Director Sidney J. Furie used the Rampart CRASH scandal as inspiration for his film Direct Action (2004), starring Dolph Lundgren.

The crime drama movie Faster (2010) featured a police officer, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who is revealed to be a corrupt former Rampart CRASH officer.

The film Rampart (2011) takes place during the Rampart scandal as the main character, Dave Brown, faces the consequences of his career.

Other films inspired by the Rampart scandal include Training Day (2001), L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve (2001), Dirty (2005), and Street Kings (2008).

In the N.W.A biographical film Straight Outta Compton (2015), there is a scene where during a studio session, Dr. Dre recognizes a police officer (presumed to be David Mack or Rafael Pérez) among Suge Knight's entourage.

Christopher Dorner, who in February 2013 executed a series of shootings until killed during a police manhunt in Southern California, referenced the Rampart scandal in his "Facebook manifesto", which began:

From: Christopher Jordan Dorner

To: America

Subj: Last resort

I know most of you who personally know me are in disbelief to hear from media reports that I am suspected of committing such horrendous murders and have taken drastic and shocking actions in the last couple of days.

Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name. The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. ...[24]

The Rampart scandal was dramatized in the 2018 film City of Lies, based upon the 2002 book LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal by Randall Sullivan.[25] Starring Johnny Depp as Detective Russell Poole and featuring Neil Brown Jr., Shamier Anderson and Amin Joseph as CRASH officers Rafael Pérez, David Mack and Kevin Gaines respectively, the film depicts Poole's investigation of the CRASH unit's criminal activities, their ties to Death Row Records, and his theory of their involvement in the murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G.[26][27][28]

City of Lies was scheduled to be released in September 2018, but in July the release was canceled and the film was shelved.[29] The stated reason was due to the negative publicity of Depp's ongoing legal issues, including a lawsuit brought against him that month by the film's location manager. However, director Brad Furman stated he believes Depp is a scapegoat and the studio was pressured by outside forces into cancelling the film.[30] The premiere of City of Lies took place on December 8, 2018 when it was screened out of competition at the Noir Film Festival in Italy.[31]

See also

References
  1. "Editorial; D.A.'s Blind Spot". Daily News, (Los Angeles, CA). March 21, 2000. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  2. "Rampart Scandal". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  3. "Perez's Confessions: Audio Excerpts". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  4. "Rampart Scandal Timeline". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  5. Dunphy, Jack (February 11, 2005). "Taking Racial Politics to a New Low". National Review. Archived from the original on April 16, 2005. Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  6. Edward Lawson.com Archived May 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Interviews: Detective Russell Poole". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  8. "The Murder of the Notorious B.I.G." Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  9. "David Anthony Mack". Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. "One Bad Cop". The New York Times Magazine. October 1, 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  11. "LAPD Officer Arrested in Drug-Evidence Theft". Los Angeles Times. August 26, 1998. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  12. Rappleye C (2000). Rampart runneth over: new allegations hound Rafael Perez. LA Weekly, 2000-10-13. Read 2011-02-14.
  13. "The Los Angeles police scandal and its social roots". wsws.org. March 13, 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  14. "Interviews: Chief Bernard Parks". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  15. Wrongful death lawsuit Archived May 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  16. Amended Complaint, Estate of Christopher G.L. Wallace v. City of Los Angeles, et al., Civ. A. No. 2:07-cv-02956-JHN-RZ (C.D. Cal. May 27, 2008).
  17. Estate of Christopher G.L. Wallace v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 2:07-cv-02956-FMC-RZx, slip op. at 4 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 5, 2009) (Nguyen, J.).
  18. "Rampart Scandal: Cover Up?". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  19. "Three New Accounts Point to Suge Knight in Killing of Biggie Smalls". Inside.com. May 14, 2001. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  20. "Editorial On Rampart Scandal". Daily News. March 21, 2000. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  21. "Rampart Scandal: Cover Up?". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  22. "Rampart Scandal: The Aftermath". PBS. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  23. Grant, Judith (2002-05-22). "The Shield". Picturing Justice, the On-Line Journal of Law and Popular Culture. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  24. Christopher Goffard; Joel Rubin; Kurt Streeter; Illustrations by Doug Stevens (December 8, 2013). "The Manhunt for Christopher Dorner, Chapter 1: A Double Killing, a Vengeful Plan, a Wave of Fear". Los Angeles Times.
  25. Kroll, Justin (September 19, 2016). "Open Road Acquires Johnny Depp Crime Thriller 'Labyrinth'". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  26. N'Duka, Amanda (November 17, 2016). "'Straight Outta Compton's Neil Brown Jr. Heads To 'LAbyrinth'". Deadline. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  27. N'Duka, Amanda (December 15, 2016). "Louis Herthum & Shamier Anderson Cast In 'LAbyrinth'". Deadline. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  28. N'Duka, Amanda (January 7, 2017). "Amin Joseph Cast In 'LAbyrinth'; Shioli Kutsuna Joins Indie Film 'Oh Lucy!'". Deadline. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  29. Hipes, Patrick (August 6, 2018). "Johnny Depp's 'City Of Lies' Movie Pulled From Release Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  30. Rohrlich, Justin (August 23, 2018). "Inside the Shocking Death of Johnny Depp's Biggie-Murder Movie 'City of Lies'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  31. "City of Lies – L'Ora Della Verità. Film di chiusura fuori concorso".

Further reading
  • Markovitz, Jonathan (2011). Racial Spectacles: Explorations in Media, Race, and Justice. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-88383-2. (Chapters on Rampart in popular culture and in the news.)
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