By ANDREW GLAZER
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES- A judge on Monday extended for three years a federal program to monitor reforms in the city’s Police Department, saying key requirements to reduce officer misconduct have not been met.
U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess rejected the city’s request to extend only portions of the program, which resulted from a 2001 settlement between the city and the Department of Justice after officers were found to have routinely planted evidence, framed and beaten suspects, and lied in court.
The judge said key requirements of the consent decree had not been met, including the use of a computer system to track misconduct. The system is “not just a material part but an essential part of the consent decree,” Feess said.
“I do not believe in my working life there will be any other case as important as this case in the department or our city,” he added.
The decree also called for improving internal oversight and training.
Michael Cherkasky, a former federal prosecutor appointed to oversee the city’s compliance, asked the judge to renew the entire monitoring program. A coalition of civil rights groups agreed and asserted that public safety depends on it.
The monitoring program “operates against a background of more than 40 years of promised reform that the city and the Los Angeles Police Department have failed to deliver,” according to a brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Justice Department and Police Chief William Bratton previously asked the judge to narrow the program to include only requirements that had not been met, saying failing to do so would send the message that “despite all of your hard work, we’re not effectively going to give you any type of reward.”
Police Commission President John Mack said the judge’s ruling could hurt morale, but the department would continue the reforms.
“We are firmly and totally committed to total implementation,” he said.