At the Los Angeles Police Department, an internal board of inquiry has confirmed the existence of a rogue police unit, known as the Ramparts Division, which operated virtually by its own rules and received little supervision. LAPD, like many other urban departments, expanded its force rapidly but failed to screen new recruits with care. These officers routinely brutalized, shot and framed gang members, planted weapons on innocent people, and then lied about these cases in court. LAPD ignored warning signs about this renegade conduct for more than a decade. Supervisors even celebrated shootings of civilians by awarding plaques to officers who wounded or killed people.
Most police officers do an honorable job and serve the African-American community well.
We welcome the sharp reduction in crime in cities all across the country. Yet these incidents have badly shaken black people's confidence in effectiveness, intentions and integrity of police departments. Criminal prosecution of alleged police brutality and misconduct has proven to be an unreliable and often futile way to seek justice. Exoneration does not erase the tragic and inexcusable loss of life. Even in the rare cases when prosecution is successful, the guilty verdicts do not address underlying deficiencies in police policy and practice.