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Rampart Blue Ribbon Review Panel
Connie Rice to Head 10 Member Panel
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Rampart Blue Ribbon Review Panel
Connie Rice to Head 10 Member Panel

July 23, 2002

As he promised several weeks ago, Police Commission President Rick Caruso announced his intention to recommend ten individuals to the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel at a press conference held at Parker Center. He noted that the Panel will be headed by noted attorney Connie Rice.

Approval of the panel and its mission was considered, and accepted, at the Police Commission meeting immediately following (read the entire Resolution, printed in the box below).

President Caruso asked that this Panel be created to build upon the work done by other panels several years ago. Essentially, the Panel will ascertain the extent to which the Department and City have identified and implemented the most important lessons of the Rampart corruption scandal.

The Panel will produce a public document that assesses past Rampart reviews, identifies obstacles to be avoided in the future and determines if sufficient remedies are in place or in progress to prevent the likelihood of a similar event occurring in the future.

All ten members of the Panel are attorneys, including Connie Rice, who is well known locally for her work in the area of civil rights. Ms. Rice is already on record as saying she was not satisfied with previous investigations into the Rampart scandal.

Published biographical info on the other members includes:

Henry S. Barbosa - assistant general counsel to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who has been in private practice for 27 years, specializing in representing local municipalities
Erwin Chemerinsky - University of Southern California law professor and constitutional law specialist who was part of a group that reviewed the Rampart scandal for the Los Angeles police union - he also served as chairman of the city's Charter Reform Commission
Jan Handzlik - a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis - recently served as deputy general counsel to the Rampart Independent Review Panel, which was appointed by the Police Commission in 2000 - he also participated in the Christopher Commission, which investigated allegations of racism and excessive force in the LAPD after the King beating
Laurie Levenson - Loyola Law School professor who collaborated on the 2000 report on the Rampart scandal that had been commissioned by the police union - she also served as a volunteer counsel on the Webster Commission, which examined the LAPD response to the 1992 riots
Stephen A. Mansfield - a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP - former federal prosecutor who served as deputy general counsel for the Rampart Independent Review Panel and headed the United Nations team that conducted the preliminary war-crimes investigation in Rwanda
Andrea S. Ordin - a partner at the law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius - former U.S. attorney who served on the Christopher Commission and was an inaugural member of the advisory board of the National Center for Women and Policing
Carol A. Sobel - a civil rights attorney who worked for the American Civil Liberties Union in Los Angeles for more than 20 years - she was part of the panel that reviewed Rampart at the request of the police union
Maurice Suh - a lawyer with Susman Godfrey LLP - former assistant US attorney who specialized in government corruption and fraud
Edgar Twine - a lawyer in private practice as an arbitrator and mediator - serves as a hearing examiner for the Police Commission and is a civilian member of the LAPD Board of Rights

As you'll see from the Resolution below, the Panel will be given wide range of authority, and the full support of both the Police Commission and Chief Bratton. There is no estimated completion date.

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R E S O L U T I O N

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DECLARING THE FORMATION OF THE
BLUE RIBBON RAMPART REVIEW PANEL
TO ANALYZE THE CAUSES OF AND RESPONSES
TO THE RAMPART AREA POLICE CORRUPTION SCANDAL

The 1998 arrest of former Los Angeles Police officer Rafael Perez for stealing cocaine from an LAPD evidence locker resulted in one of the most serious police corruption scandals in American history. As a consequence of Perez's arrest, prosecution, and eventual conviction, the community became aware of allegations of serious criminal acts by police officers assigned to the Rampart Area gang suppression unit as well as other assignments in the Department. The allegations included framing criminal suspects, perjury, falsification of arrest records, and in some instances even shooting citizens without reasonable cause.

As a result, the City, County, and federal governments have been required to devote enormous resources over the past several years in order to investigate the allegations, as well as the underlying conditions which apparently permitted such serious misconduct to occur .Los Angeles Police officers have been prosecuted and convicted of crimes committed in connection with the scandal, and both the District Attorney and the City Attorney's office have found it necessary to seek and obtain the reversal of numerous criminal convictions which were or may have been tainted by serious police officer dishonesty. In addition, the City of Los Angeles has paid out tens of millions of dollars in order to settle lawsuits involving allegations of police misconduct related to the Rampart scandal.

In 1999, then Chief of Police Bernard Parks convened an internal Board of Inquiry, which reported findings and recommendations in March of 2000. Thereafter, this Commission authorized the executive director and the inspector general to organize an Independent Review Panel, which also made findings and recommendations. In addition, partly as a result of Rampart, the United States Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against the City which led to the negotiation of the federal Consent Decree under which the Department is now required to operate.

Both this Commission and Chief Bratton have consistently made clear that we are absolutely committed to the implementation of the federal consent decree and to the institution of any and all reforms necessary to restore the Los Angeles Police Department to its rightful place as the country's most highly respected police department. As part of this continued effort, it remains necessary to obtain a final accounting of the scandal that is both entirely independent of the Department and based on a complete review of the previous investigations and the Department's policies and consultation with all persons having knowledge which may benefit the LAPD as it moves forward.

THEREFORE, THE BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES HEREBY ADOPTS THIS RESOLUTION ANNOUNCING THE FORMATION OF THE BLUE RIBBON RAMPART REVIEW PANEL:

The Panel shall be comprised of ten distinguished and highly respected members of the community who will donate their time, knowledge, experience, and efforts in service to the City. Civil rights attorney Constance L. Rice will serve as chairperson. The Panel will act in an advisory role to the Police Commission but is authorized to act wholly independently with respect to its direction of inquiry, opinions, and conclusions.

The Panel's mission is to investigate and review the response by the City and others to the Rampart Area scandal in order to determine the extent to which the Underlying causes for the scandal have been identified and addressed. The Panel will make findings regarding the adequacy of the City's response and will make recommendations for reforms designed to prevent any such event from ever occurring in the future. The Panel's efforts will result in a report to the Police Commission, which the Commission will make available to the public.

The Panel will review previous investigations and reports pertaining to the Rampart scandal, and may also conduct interviews both within and without the Department, review LAPD records and policies as necessary, and consult with experts knowledgeable concerning the Department, police corruption and police reform, and a broad range of police practices.

Both this Commission and Chief Bratton are committed to fully cooperating with all aspects of the Panel's operation and with its efforts. In this regard, the Commission will in coming weeks take further actions as necessary to address the legal and procedural issues relating to the operation of the Panel and service by its members, including assuring compliance with all City policies and procedures and the seeking of all necessary actions by the City Council, the Mayor, and any other City officials necessary in order to support this crucial effort.

Finally, the Commission and Chief Bratton further commit that we will seriously and publicly consider any and all conclusions and recommendations brought forth by the Panel and that the Department will adopt and implement all policies and procedures necessary to restore the Department's integrity and its reputation as the premier law enforcement agency in the United States.