The Rampart scandal was a police corruption scandal which unfolded in Los Angeles, California, United States, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The scandal concerned widespread criminal activity within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. More than 70 police officers were initially implicated in various forms of misconduct, including unprovoked shootings and beatings, planting of false evidence, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury and cover-ups thereof.[1]
Of the 70 officers initially implicated, enough evidence was uncovered 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 falsified evidence and perjury by Rampart CRASH officers, 106 prior criminal convictions were overturned.[3]
The scandal resulted in more than 140 civil lawsuits against the City of Los Angeles, costing the city an estimated $125 million in settlements.[4] Partly as a result of the scandal, Mayor James Hahn did not rehire Police Chief Bernard C. 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][6]
- ^ "Editorial; D.A.'s Blind Spot". Daily News, (Los Angeles, CA). March 21, 2000. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
- ^ "Rampart Scandal". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ "Perez's Confessions: Audio Excerpts". PBS. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ "Rampart Scandal Timeline". PBS. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ^ Dunphy, Jack (February 11, 2005). "Taking Racial Politics to a New Low". National Review. Archived from the original on April 16, 2005. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
- ^ "Interviews: Detective Russell Poole". PBS. Retrieved August 31, 2012.