Police escapades reminiscent of days gone by

cannot help noticing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Let me tell you why. Back in the early 1930s, the Los Angeles Police Department, under the leadership of Mayor Frank Shaw, became notorious for its heavy-handed and illegal tactics. Beatings were the norm. Set-ups were tricks of the trade.

A corrupt politician with his own brand of insider politics, dubbed the "Shaw Spoils System," did nothing to end police violence and corruption. It got so bad that the LAPD Central Vice Squad could be bought by anyone with enough money and a need for some serious intimidation.

It was not until concerned activists Clifford Clinton and Harry Raymond created the Citizen's Independent Vice Investigation Committee that investigations into police brutality and illegal activity began to take place. This resulted in a complete overhaul of the LAPD and Los Angeles city government.

Sixty years removed from such incidents, the City of Los Angeles finds itself once again having to address corruption charges.

Having been arrested for the theft of eight pounds of cocaine from an LAPD evidence room and sentenced to five years in prison, former officer Rafael A. Perez reached an agreement with prosecutors to supply information on the extent of corruption within the LAPD's Rampart Division, which covers eight square miles just 15 minutes north of the USC campus.

Rampart Division's Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, or CRASH, is now under investigation by the city and the FBI for civil rights violations. CRASH, an anti-gang unit, has already felt the initial force of the investigations. As of today, 12 officers have been relieved of their duties.

One current inquiry revolves around a February 1998 beating of a handcuffed suspect. Another involves a July 1996 shooting in an apartment building where one suspect died and another was wounded. Officers claimed that the deceased had brandished and pointed the confiscated weapon at them. The survivor, Javier Francisco Ovando, denies the existence of any weapon in his friend's possession.

It is sad to see our police force caught in such a downward spiral. These are the men and women who are here to "serve and protect." They even have this written on their vehicles. We have given them the authority to protect us from crimes and criminals, not the power to intimidate and abuse.

Yet one does not have to look very far to find one who thinks that a badge grants him or her the luxury to be smug and condescending. The badge does not give you superhuman intelligence or higher class, because it represents neither. What it does represent is a commitment to the community and a greater responsibility for its maintenance and safety than the general population. That is why officers become officers and the rest of us rely on them, isn't it?

More officer interaction with the community would help remove some of the tarnish brought on in recent years to the LAPD and all other law enforcement agencies. Greater involvement will tend to reduce animosity and ill feelings some in the community harbor against them. Right now they are so far removed and disconnected that they fail to see the humanity within the communities they patrol. They know no names, no faces, just suspects and profiles. That is no way to start a relationship.

It is time to change the old ways of doing things. Society is no longer what it was 60 years ago. Citizens are more informed about their rights, organizations are on the constant look-out for violations and the old game of politics has, believe it or not, evolved. And of course, we have the always-salivating media looking for its next big lunch. No longer can one arbitrarily do something negative and get away with it. Not in this town, at least. So instead of creating scandal, let's create connections and put the past behind us. I think that we can all agree that it's time for some real change.

Carlos A. Aguilar-Diaz is a senior majoring in political science.

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 138, No. 16 (Wednesday, September 22, 1999), beginning on page 4 and ending on page 5.