Virtually all civil lawsuits stemming from the Rampart Division police scandal have been settled for a total of $70 million, Los Angeles officials are set to announce today, five years after an anti-gang officer blew the whistle on widespread corruption and brutality. The announcement marks the resolution of most remaining legal issues from a scandal that caused more than 100 criminal convictions to be overturned and more than a dozen officers to leave the force – some fired, others resigning amid investigations.
The Rampart debacle also set the stage for the federal government to impose a consent decree on the Los Angeles Police Department, requiring extensive reforms. A commission is still studying the scandal. The city was sued more than 200 times, mostly by drug dealers, gang members and other criminals who said they had been framed, shot, beaten or otherwise mistreated by the police. All but eight of the suits have been resolved, according to city lawyers. The expected expenditures in the eight cases are included in the $70 million.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rampart31mar31,0,5751074.story?coll=la-home-headlines