It didn't take long for the district attorney's new public integrity division to pounce on its first targets.
Only 6 months old, the unit charged with rooting out political corruption in Los Angeles County has raided city halls and searched officials' homes at gunpoint. It has gained the authority to listen in on closed-door meetings of one school district.
And this week prosecutors filed a conflict-of-interest charge against Bell Gardens City Manager Maria Chacon, their first criminal filing against a public official.
In all, the division has launched 85 investigations--triple the number existing from the previous administration. Corruption targets have run the gamut, from school trustees to city officials to one of region's most prominent politicians, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles).
Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley wanted his new unit to make a splash--and it has.
When he outlined the unit's goals at a convention of city officials last month, some officials under investigation walked out.
"You could hear a pin drop," said Cooley, who was interviewed in his 18th-floor office in the downtown Criminal Courts Building. "They know we mean business."
But complaints are growing in some quarters. Some accuse prosecutors of singling out Latino officials, charging that crack-of-dawn raids by armed investigators are not used against white officials suspected of similar wrongdoing.
"That's the kind of aggressive action that is usually demonstrated when going after high-risk felons: people who have murdered, or sold drugs, or [are] known to have a cache of weapons," said South Gate Treasurer Albert Robles, who attended a recent meeting of Latino officials to address concerns about the unit's tactics.
But many observers, including a number of prominent Latino officials, say such scrutiny of public officials is long overdue.
"This is not symbolism. There is substance behind this unit. . . . Something has to be done to restore trust in government," said Fernando Guerra, director for the study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
Searching out political corruption in Los Angeles County is a formidable task. The county is home to 88 cities, 32 water districts and 81 school districts, each filled with officials subject to laws governing conflict of interest, voter fraud and other issues. The Board of Supervisors and the MTA also fall under the public integrity division's jurisdiction.
