In the five years since Los Angeles’s Rampart Division police corruption scandal voided more than 100 criminal convictions, the Los Angeles Police Department has struggled to reform itself under a controversial court decree, says the Los Angeles Times. Officers face more rigorous training and supervision, confidential informants are monitored more closely, and use-of-force incidents are more thoroughly investigated.
Yet the department has fallen short in important areas. U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess is expected as early as May 15 to extend the five-year federal consent decree for at least two more years, a move that would embarrass city officials and LAPD brass and serve as a costly, continuing distraction. he city is already spending more than $10 million per year and dedicating 110 officers and civilians to the task of bringing the LAPD into compliance. Some city officials and civil rights leaders say they are baffled as to why the department has failed to comply across the board.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-consent20apr20,1,5111865.story?coll=la-headlines-california