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Weak supervision has also been a problem. Los Angeles lost 1,600 positions in the 1980s owing to budget cuts, and much of the attrition came among managers in the field. Parks says supervisors often didn't see--or worse, ignored--"red flags" that something was wrong. Perez has charged that a key reason for the misconduct he observed and participated in was that officers were "trying to impress supervisors."
This too is a problem that is not limited to the L.A.P.D. Law-enforcement experts say police nationwide are too often told by their supervisors, or by prosecutors and politicians, that the only thing that matters is getting a conviction. "The seed of corruption begins when cops are asked to fill in the blanks for district attorneys to make cases," says Gene O'Donnell, a professor at New York City's John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former cop. "If they don't remember, there's a tremendous pressure for them to make it up." O'Donnell says one of the most common refrains he hears from police is that "this job is not on the level." Police then often find themselves adapting to a corrupt system.
The L.A.P.D. board of inquiry is expected to address many of these issues in a report to be released this week, a blueprint for turning the department around. One of its main recommendations, Parks has said, will be tightened screening of applicants, including better background checks, improved psychological testing, polygraph exams and more management in the field.
The L.A.P.D. scandal will surely shine a light on other cities, where complaints about police tactics may get new scrutiny. It will also focus attention on successful reforms in such cities as New Orleans, the site of the nation's last major police scandal. Things were ugly there in the 1990s. One policeman was convicted of murdering a young mother of three who filed a supposedly confidential brutality complaint against him. Nine officers were arrested in a sting operation and convicted of selling protection to a cocaine warehouse. Two cops were charged with raping a 14-year-old girl. More than 100 others were charged with a variety of felonies.
But in the past five years, a new police superintendent has turned the department around. Richard Pennington invited the FBI in, asking it to assign three agents to his new Public Integrity Unit. He tightened the screening process for recruits, looking not only for criminal records but also for money troubles that could make them susceptible to financial temptation. Complaints against the department are down 27% in five years, the city's murder rate fell 31% last year, and public confidence is growing.
Will the L.A.P.D. be able to put its house in order? Critics of the department are skeptical. "The L.A.P.D. investigators have intractable conflicts of interest. They're complicit in what has happened," says Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Michael Mitchell. "The supervisors are afraid they won't be able to put a lid on it." But with the public clamoring for answers--and the FBI involved--it may be difficult to fight off the tide of reform.