The Los Angeles Police Department sought to bypass county prosecutors handling the Rampart corruption probe, even as Chief Bernard C. Parks assured the public that his detectives were cooperating with them, according to a confidential report by the Police Commission's inspector general.
Inspector General Jeffrey C. Eglash said that at a minimum, "The weight of the evidence establishes that Chief Parks made misleading statements" during a news conference about the imbroglio with the district attorney last year. Eglash also determined that Parks later made misleading statements to the inspector general's office during an investigation into the matter.
The report, which was dated Dec. 28 and obtained Monday by The Times, found that Parks "briefly refused to cooperate" with the district attorney's corruption probe and then unjustly accused then-Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti of fabricating the controversy.
The inspector general also concluded that the short-lived effort to shut out the district attorney's office had little effect on the investigation. Nevertheless, the report raises questions about the veracity of the chief's statements and the integrity of his actions.
The Police Commission is expected to discuss Eglash's report during a closed session at today's regularly scheduled meeting. It will be up to the commission to decide what discipline, if any, should be imposed on the chief.
Parks--who has disagreed with Eglash on a number of issues, most notably a controversial shooting of a homeless woman by LAPD officers in 1999--did not return a call seeking comment. Commission President Raquelle de la Rocha declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.
In a telephone interview Monday, Garcetti said he felt vindicated.
"I was confident the true facts would eventually come out. Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than I anticipated," Garcetti said.
The dispute between Parks and Garcetti took a toll on both, subjecting Parks to political backlash and, in the view of some analysts, contributing to Garcetti's defeat at the polls in November. Garcetti said Monday that he believed Parks' attack on him was a key factor in his failed reelection race, which he lost to Steve Cooley.
"I paid a huge price," Garcetti said. "It hurt my credibility tremendously, and apparently there was no recovery from that."
