Citizen Commendation

The below comments were originally mailed to Officer Rios' Commanding Officer.

I was a jury member in a trial lask week where Officer Rios was called to testify.  It goes without saying that this young officer carried the weight of Rampart Division on her shoulders as she sat on the witness stand in a trial dealing with drug possession.  The defense attorney made certain her credibility was on the line because of past events that were beyond her control.  The defense attorney was unscrupulous, dogmatic, rude and disrespectful to Officer Rios.  She, on the other hand, was the utmost professional.

Understandably nervous given her first time to testify, she was composed, forthright and honest.  Her partner who had actually discovered the drug evidence was not available to testify and the defense attorney attempted to rattle her by implying there was a dishonest reason why he did not appear (he was on vacation).  Officer Rios truly did the department proud by holding her own.

Unfortunately one juror could not get past a particular point in the instructions we were given by the judge which led to a hung jury.  All jurors unanimously believed Officer Rios and with eleven opinions of guilty, her actions went a long way to sending a message to the defendant and his attorney.

One may ask why an every day citizen would be so impressed by the process of what the media and others would regard as a small case that probably should have not gone to trial, but this experience did turn into an opportunity for this citizen to appreciate the everyday details of how officers are trained and how those small things lead to the safety and security of our communities. 

Officer Rios should be commended for not only the credence she contributed to this case, but the credence she contributed to the entire department.

All officers have such a tough job amist tough critics and every day you carry the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt more on your shoulders than anyone. While Officer Rios's individual integrity stood out to this citizen this week, I am certain that her performance also speaks volumes for her mentors in the LAPD.  As a citizen of Los Angeles County and one who spends a good deal of time in the City of Los Angeles I appreciate the efforts of the LAPD to raise the standards and expectations of law enforcement everywhere.

Most citizens go to jury duty and come away uninspired, but this week was different because one of the LAPD rose above her call.

Respectfully,

Julie Root                                                                         

Comments

[LAPD Hopeful]

As a candidate in the hiring process with LAPD, reading comments such as these are truly inspirational. I read many messages on this blog from appearantly jaded, (experienced?) officers with years of service, and years of complaints to go with them. To see that there are still officers out there making a difference is refreshing and re-enforces my decision to pursue a career with LAPD. Thanks to both Officer Rios for doing her job well, and Mrs. Root for bringing her behavior to light. It's nice to still see LAPD as an example to be followed.

[Algonquin J. Calhoun]

It sounds like the DA might have been a rookie as well. Why were the Pubic Defender's slanderous comments allowed?

How did the Judge let this slide?

[m officer]

To LAPD hopeful, before you start criticizing tenured officers for having an opinion and outlook, get hired and work as we do. The realty of Police work is, it is not always pretty and experienced officers take this career to heart and with that comes emotion. It is very upsetting when good officers are wronged, either by the city or criminals. A piece of advice be open and listen and don't start judging those who have walked the walk, before you have even started to crawl. Please read the following it might expand on why officers become the way they do. These officers are all friends of mine and there are more officers who lives were nearly ruined because of the gangster Perez and I.A.
Rampart scandal not what it seems

LA Daily News (Guest Column)

BY JOSEPH Y. AVRAHAMY, Guest Columnist

IN reading the recent news stories regarding the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel Report, it is clear that truth about the Rampart scandal has yet to be uncovered.

The report, based on the findings of the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel, continues to characterize the Rampart corruption scandal as "one of the most serious police corruption scandals in American history." This characterization perpetuates the 7-year-old myth that Rafael Perez exposed wide-scale corruption in the Rampart CRASH unit.

But the real truth of the Rampart scandal is reflected in a $15 million malicious-prosecution award that a jury returned on behalf of three innocent police officers who were implicated by Perez during the scandal. As an attorney, I represented those three officers, and their story tells us much about Rampart that can't be found in the panel's report.

In one of the only times that the veracity of Perez's allegations and the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation were put to the test, a federal jury and judge concluded that Perez falsely implicated the three officers. Worse, they also found that the LAPD violated the officers' constitutional rights by falsely arresting them.

Rebuking the conduct of the LAPD, the judge remarked that the "LAPD ruined the lives of three dedicated and highly skilled police officers." The judge further concluded: "Based on the evidence presented at trial, the jury reasonably concluded that the LAPD had no probable cause for arresting the (officers)."

The Rampart scandal began with a media frenzy following reports of Perez's allegations, which convinced the citizens of Los Angeles that there was widespread corruption in the LAPD. Yet despite continuous revelations that Perez was fabricating his allegations and that there never really was endemic corruption in the Rampart CRASH unit, the illusion of wide-scale corruption continues.

A correct reporting of the final tally of the Rampart scandal is the best indicator of the true extent of the corruption in the unit:

Rafael Perez identified 93 officers involved in arrests which were allegedly tainted by corruption. From those 93 officers, excluding Perez, only eight officers were criminally charged. Of those eight officers, only four were convicted of the charges.

Three of those officers pleaded guilty to charges related to use of excessive force, and not to the corruption charges Perez alleged.

As to the 23 officers who were fired or suspended, the majority of those officers returned to work after they were found not guilty by administrative boards of rights.

The true Rampart scandal lies in the overreaction of city officials to the allegations of corruption by Perez.

In a rush to placate the public's false belief of extensive corruption in the LAPD, these officials caused 156 felony convictions to be overturned. These felony convictions were of dangerous gang members who were properly arrested and convicted. In what was labeled the "Rampart Lotto," these gang members profited from the scandal through civil-rights lawsuits, which were settled at a cost of $70 million in taxpayer money.

This is the truth behind the Rampart scandal, a truth which was validated by a jury who awarded three innocent officers, who were the real victims of the scandal, $15 million.

Joseph Y. Avrahamy was the trial attorney for the three police officers who were awarded $15 million in their malicious-prosecution lawsuit against the LAPD.

[Been There]

Be prepared (LAPD Hopeful). That it common practice of defense attorneys. Cant beat the case, beat the officer. A Veteran of countless prelims and trials, including more then a few death and life sentence cases, it is what is expected. You attack the officer and his/hers investigation. Jurors usually see through the tactic but it is a pain in the ass to say the least.

During Pre Lims, The DA should object. The good ones do.

Good Luck.

[Lt. De La Torre]

Officer Rios, thank you a job well done.

Ms. Root,

It takes a special kind of person to take time from their life to acknowledge another person's good deed. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and wish you good health and prosperity.

As for everyone else, Officer Rios' exemplary duty performance is done every single day by the men and women of this Department.

Lt. Ruben De La Torre
Public Communications Section
Los Angeles Police Department

[Ed O'Shea]

Below is an article that all should read. Including Chief Bratton and Constance Rice and the rest of the mostly Anti-LAPD Police Commission. Our socialist Mayor and absent city counsel members should also read it! We can have it translated into spanish for the Mayor if he likes!

Ed

LAPD's Gangster Cops Are Gone
The city's police have changed. Why haven't its critics?
By Heather MacDonald, Heather MacDonald is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of "Are Cops Racist?"
July 23, 2024

IT IS LONG PAST TIME to retire outdated stereotypes of the Los Angeles Police Department. Unfortunately, a recent blue-ribbon panel has given them new life.

Police Chief William J. Bratton commissioned the Rampart Review Panel in 2003 to evaluate whether his department was still at risk for a corruption scandal like the Rampart gang-unit fiasco of 1999. Ignoring the radical changes in the department over the last four years, the panel, chaired by civil rights attorney Constance Rice, incorrectly concluded that it was. Worse, it recycled old chestnuts about a racially insensitive, overly aggressive LAPD that will only make the panel's stated goal of improved police-community relations more elusive.

The key conceit of the report is a Manichaean distinction between what it portrays as the good policing in the revamped Rampart Division and what it sees as the bad policing that allegedly remains the norm in South Los Angeles. Rampart policing uses what the report calls community problem-solving to reduce crime. South L.A. policing supposedly relies on what the report dubs the "LAPD warrior model" and "proactivesuppression" tactics. Those needlessly harsh tactics are largely to blame for the police-community tensions that plague South L.A., the panel claims.

Given the otherwise bleak tenor of the report, one must be grateful for the accolades that it justifiably pours on the Rampart Division. But its thesis that policing there is an aberration rests on blindness to the systemwide reforms of recent years and the decades-long cultural shifts within the LAPD. The same innovative leadership at Parker Center oversees the Rampart Division and the South Bureau. It equally demands lower crime, professionalism and accountability from both commands.

The Rampart Division benefited from an infusion of extra officers after the corruption scandal. The added manpower allowed it to more rigorously enforce such nuisance violations as graffiti, a strategy that Rice denounced as gangster-like posturing in a 2002 Op-Ed article. Then-Rampart Capt. Charles Beck also tirelessly reached out to community representatives. As a result of these initiatives, MacArthur Park was reborn as a neighborhood sanctuary.

But South Bureau commanders and officers work just as hard at forging ties with the local community. They cooperate with other city agencies in combating gang violence. If those efforts have not yielded results as dramatic as in Rampart, the difference lies not in policing philosophy, but in the cultures of the two areas.

Officers patrolling in South L.A. face daily expressions of hatred and the threat of violence. Over the last year alone, shootings at officers doubled citywide, culminating in the June attack that paralyzed Officer Kristina Ripatti. More than half of them were in South L.A. Every officer making an arrest knows that he faces a far higher likelihood of resistance than in the city's other areas. As a lifelong resident of Watts and member of one of the LAPD's many community advisory boards put it to me: "The simple fact is that people don't understand what the police have to deal with. Every time they make a stop, they have to worry that their lives are on the line."

Under such conditions, officers will be more wary in approaching potential suspects. Supervisors are unlikely to allow such outreach methods as solo foot patrol. In a world where gang members gun down children, commanders and beat cops will spend more time pursuing violent criminals and making what turn out to be coercive arrests. The police are trying every strategy they can to get off that treadmill of pursuit and apprehension. But if the community and the blue-ribbon panel perceive those inevitable responses as "racially targeted" and "dehumanizing," in the Rampart panel's words, perhaps the onus lies on the community to stop young men from taking up violence as a calling.

As for the allegation that inner-city officers cling stubbornly to an arrogant "warrior mentality," the report offers no hint that any panel member ever rode along with officers or observed their interactions with the public. Callous officers still patrol minority neighborhoods — and elsewhere. The LAPD must continue rooting them out. But they are not the norm. There are many more who try to treat every member of the public with courtesy and respect — until their conduct no longer justifies it.

The panel's remaining conclusions are just as unsubstantiated. It charges that planting evidence "may not be a thing of the past" based on one sting that provoked questionable behavior on the part of a Rampart officer. The report does not disclose how many stings were conducted over what period of time before one proved fruitful — a data-free method of analysis that characterizes the entire report. This anecdote more accurately supports the opposite conclusion: that the LAPD is relentlessly monitoring itself to make sure Rampart corruption does not reoccur.

Equally specious is the allegation that the department cares more about wealthy neighborhoods than poor, a charge that demonstrates unclouded ignorance of the revolutionary computer crime-mapping system known as Compstat. The LAPD remains unconscionably starved for resources, but it places twice as many officers in South L.A. per capita than on the Westside, and it monitors and responds to crime patterns with equal intensity no matter the ZIP Code.

The greatest contribution the police can provide to poor neighborhoods is a measure of public safety. They strive to do so every day. But their work is made all the harder when they face a wall of hostility from certain elements of a community. The LAPD has achieved enormous success in the 21st century, both in lowering crime and in becoming a model of professional and humane policing. It is a lost opportunity that the Rampart Review Panel did not more forcefully recognize that fact and call on responsible community leaders in South L.A. to do so as well.

[Lt. De La Torre]

Ed,

Very good article, but do you really have to make a dig at the Mayor's heritage/culture.

[Algonquin J. Calhoun]

LT Ruben,

I don't think Ed was making a dig, I think he was just being a realist.

If you call 311 from within the City of LA or 213-485-2121 from outside of the city, you will be greeted by Mayor Antonio in Spanish.

Maybe the Mayor is more comfortable in speaking a foreign language?

Either that or he is suggesting that the Hispanic people cannot understand the English language and must be forced-fed everything in their native tongue.

[Lt. De La Torre]

Mr. Calhoun,

The strength of the article speaks for itself, the added commentary took away from its message.

[LAPD Hopeful]

To "M Officer" and "Been There": First let me say thank you for taking the time to reply and provide your insight to my comment. I fully acknowledge being at the pre-crawl stage of a police career, and certainly have that "get out and make a difference" desire typical of a new officer. I have ridden with officers in South-East, and seen first hand what veteran officers deal with on a nightly basis in their worst areas- and yet still want to continue on through the process and earn a badge. I meant no insult by my comment, just acknowledging the reality of an officer with some years behind him and the un-fortunate change many go through when the reality of the job doesn't meet the expectation of it. The grass is no greener at the company I'm currently employed with, but I'm not blessed with the potential of changing lives there either. Police work is becoming less and less glamerous these days, and to an aspiring officer, comments from citizens like Ms. Root provide the inspiration to leave a stable career and join an organization often complained about both from the outside and from the inside. To try so hard to attain something that so few appreciate the value of is dis-heartening at times. It's nice to be reminded of why I'm pushing for that goal, which is the heart of what my prior post was aiming for.

[Lt. De La Torre]

LAPD Hopeful,

Well put. I wish you luck with your processing and encourage you to pursue your dreams. It's an honor to wear this uniform and badge. Yes the job can be difficult, but the rewards can be great.

[LEO]

To Lt. De La Torre,

Since we are engaged in the discussion of commendations, why is it that when one walks into a LAPD station, you are immediately presented with a display rack of Complaint forms in approx. 10 different languages.

But on the kiosk bearing Police commendations, they are only offered in English.

Is the LAPD more interested in investigating Officer misconduct, or are they not offering an olive branch to it's immigrant population in regard to Officer Commendations?

The above described action screams of hypocrisy.

If you or any of your other Kool-Aid drinkers can provide an explanation as to why the LAPD has taken this action, I'd be the utmost interested.

I can't believe your Officers and/or the LAPPL have never brought this to the Brass' attention.

Let's correct this major oversight and level the playing field so that both sides of the story are told.

Signed,

LEO

An Outraged Citizen

[m officer]

LAPD Hopeful, Good luck, I wish you well and it seems you will do well if given the opportunity to work In LAPD. We need eager officers who want to make a difference, not just promote.

[Dave]

I'm no fan of Mayor Antonio, but the remarks about his language and ethnicity are cheap ad hominem shots. English is his first language; Spanish is not. His command of the Spanish language is rather basic, as is his pronunciation.

As for Algonquin J. Calhoun's comments about "the Pubic [sic] Defender's slanderous comments," you can't slander someone in court. (And nothing in the original message refers to anything that would be considered slanderous even if it was uttered outside court.) The defense attorney was only doing his or her job. All witnesses should be challenged. You'd want the same if you were charged with an offense and on trial.

Also note that the original commendation made no reference to a "public defender." You're presuming the defense attorney was one.

The police officer was well prepared for a rattling cross-examination. Those tough crosses are what keep the folks in blue sharp. It's part of the job. By being sharp and prepared, it sounds like the officer defeated the efforts of the defense attorney.

[Hard Working Resident]

To All:

Firstly, good luck to LAPD hopeful. I believe you will find the department will back you up, provided your actions do to get media attention. If it does, most likely you're on your own brother.

As for the comment about the Mayor, no reason for that. I'm not a big fan, but the Spanish thing was juvenile. However, the article was not. 9,000 LAPD officers were disparaged by the actions of 4 who were convicted. When the City gets political leaders rather than politicians things will be better (don't hold your breath). I will not even get into the millions of dollars spent each year on a useless consent decree which has not done much.

[Officer and a Citizen]

My brethren, please read the paragraphs of the Consent Decree before you term it useless. Don’t fool yourself, the gospel being preached from the roll call podium isn’t always being taught be people who understand the Consent Decree either. Know that numerous commissions have repeatedly made recommendations that our Department forefathers have failed to embrace, let alone enact.

This document is an example of what many organizations within our profession will see themselves entangled in should they not comply with the law while policing. Just go to the Internet and look at Oakland PD’s Negotiated Settlement Agreement or Detroit’s Consent Decree. This mechanism is sorely needed due to the many years of abuses that have gone in within this Department.

If you need more proof, just contact the folks over at Audit Division and ask them to provide you with copies of the numerous audits that show the areas in which our officers, supervisors, managers and command staff repeatedly fail to follow Department policy while performing their duties.

Brothers and sisters, the Consent Decree is not our fault. However, failing to view it as a necessary tool will have you repeating the same mistakes of our forefathers and peers, and quite possibly allow you to witness the demise of the organization as you know it today. Just think about it.

[Female Resident & City Employee]

I must admit I enjoy reading the different opinions from all people. In my own humble opinion, I believe most everyone has something that needs to be taken to heart and dealt with within the LAPD.

It never ceases to amaze me that so many want to point to Rampart as the one and only bad time for LAPD and the only bad officers. Or perhaps, officers having a bad day.

I love the LAPD, and not just because I believe they should protect and serve whenever I need them to.

But the trust has been a long time earned. Most of my life has been spent with my seeing only the bad side, up close and personal. Different situations when you would expect caring, compassionate, or at the least courteous officers (when my little brother was missing), instead there was a huge officer (in my mind) who pushed me and my sister around in front of other officers (and yes, I mean physically - he put his finger on my chest and pushed me over and over again until I fell on the sofa - because I was scared - and we apparently hadn't moved fast enough for him to open the door - as he told us to do what he said, when said, blah blah blah) and my mother was out looking for my brother and my sister and I were alone in the house.

This was almost 20 years ago, but I can tell you exactly what that Sergeant looked like.

Don't get me wrong - there have been more recent instances - being pulled over on the 110 while driving only to have the officers pull away laughing as soon as I turned my car off. (And they know who they are!)Is just one.

And yes, I remember what they look like too. But I do realize that for every bad or not so great officer there is a good one, someone on the force because they want to do a good job.

I've been at events that were out of control, and a person or persons actually, were bothering me, and the police, thank God, saw it and pulled up and immediately made them leave me alone. After asking me if I was okay, they apologized for my having to go through that. (I told my mother who was amazed).

My only hope is that the officers who do the not so great things, get handled and dealt with, so that the sun can shine on the wonderful officers more. The officers who pulled me over for no reason, and others, should be held to the same standard as all the others. Instead, in my experience, trying to alert their supervisors to their behavior has been a lost cause.

And as for higher salaries, I have to agree. LAPD is held to a standard that none other in the nation is. Their training is extensive and they do have to deal with quite a bit of flurry every time they are mentioned in the papers. - That notwithstanding - keep the good ones - and retrain everyone else, so that your higher salaries are justified.