Crime, Poverty Test Rampart Officers' Skill
If there is any place that tests the character of Los Angeles police, it is in the neighborhoods west of downtown, where Rampart Division officers are sworn to protect many of the city's most powerless residents against some of its most violent.
A complex mix of gangs, violence and poverty in the crowded Pico-Union and Westlake districts makes policing there an unmatched challenge. And now, officers asked to balance demands for tough enforcement with fair treatment are suspected of wide-spread brutality and corruption in the unfolding Rampart station scandal.
Two former Rampart officers are accused of shooting an unarmed 19-year-old Honduran immigrant--a gang member left paralyzed by his injuries and then falsely imprisoned. There is a widening investigation of other suspected shootings, as well as allegations that police ripped off neighborhood drug dealers for profit. So far, more than a dozen officers have been relieved of duty.
Despite the allegations, a vocal group of merchants and residents praises Rampart officers, giving them credit for reducing crime.
"There was a time when families and kids could not go outdoors because gang members were waiting to jump on them," said Bertha Wooldridge, who has lived in Westlake for 37 years.
But others report long-standing troubles with Rampart police, including random stops and confrontations over minor offenses that they say escalate into beatings and detention. Rampart's many Latino officers--about 40% of the station's force--are supposed to bring increased cultural understanding to their job. But many citizens complain that they are among the most heavy-handed and capricious.
Some illegal street vendors say even Latino officers call them "wetbacks" as they confiscate their cash and goods. These vendors complain of police asking them, "Why don't you go back to where you came from?"
A few people allege that police have framed them for crimes they did not commit--ending their chances of obtaining or keeping legal immigration status.
High Concentration of Latino Immigrants
The eight square miles assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division has one of the state's highest concentrations of Latino immigrants, according to U.S. census data. Most are hard-working newcomers, vulnerable to mistreatment: An arrest can destroy the chances of getting U.S. citizenship; the wrong word to a gang member can draw a beating or a bullet.
