A Punishing Week for Police Morale

On Friday, a day set aside in several LAPD divisions as “Police Appreciation Day,� officers all over Los Angeles struggled to come to grips with a week of body blows.

Two days earlier, the Rampart verdicts had come down: A jury convicted three men who once patrolled some of the most dangerous streets in the city of lying and conspiracy.

The next day, an independent panel convened by the Police Commission released a scathing review of the city’s failure to reform the LAPD’s culture and management.

And now, on the day that many divisions were feted by grateful residents, rank-and-file officers were deep in disenchantment.

Some questioned whether they would continue in their current jobs.

“If I can get hired by another department, I am leaving,� said an officer from the Newton Division, who bitterly complained that officers are losing their ability to “proactively� stop crime.

Some spoke of the rise in tension on the job, of feeling unappreciated and misunderstood, of open taunts, of being called thieves and criminals by ordinary citizens.

They talked about feeling squeezed by all sides--by top brass, by the judicial system, by a federal Justice Department about to begin unprecedented oversight and by the media. “Everybody I’ve talked to, from five-year to 30-year veterans, agrees the department is . . . going down fast,� said Officer Kenn Lefever, a nine-year veteran who works in downtown Los Angeles.

Increasingly, said Officer Louis Medrano, a 12-year veteran on motorcycle patrol in the Van Nuys Division, “I get yelled at, I get cussed at, I get things thrown at me.� He, too, has thought of getting out. Maybe he could start a small business or leave for another department.

More and more, he said, citizens “feel a sense of dishonesty on the officer’s part, based on prior accusations and past incidents.�

To Central Division Sgt. Andy Mathes, “The challenge is going to be for officers to go out there and overcome the stigma that has been attached to them.�

Like many other officers interviewed Friday, Officer Medrano said he performs his job warily, particularly in the wake of the Rampart verdicts. And like many other LAPD officers, he voluntarily wears an audio recorder on his uniform, so he can record his interactions with the public.

Officers throughout the city complained Friday about what they consider an overly punitive management style emanating from the office of Chief Bernard C. Parks.

“You don’t feel like you are being supported by those at the top,� said Sgt. Emilio Garay, a 12-year veteran working in the Southwest Division. “They don’t want to hear what the rank and file has to say.�

Those gripes have echoed since the beginning of Parks’ tenure in 1997, and were a focus of the highly critical Rampart Independent Review Panel study released Thursday. But many officers, frustrated by the events of the week, seemed more willing than ever to voice them--especially in the context of an impending federal consent decree that will lead to Justice Department oversight of the department’s daily operations.

“We know we are under scrutiny, so there’s a lot of concern when you make a mistake, and we wonder what could happen to us,� said Sgt. Robert Davis of the San Fernando Valley’s Devonshire Division. “There’s a lot of people who do their job in fear, and that’s not [because of life-threatening situations] in the field.�

Many officers said the allegations of police abuse in the Rampart scandal have tainted the way they are perceived.

“When I have contact with people, the first thing they ask is if I’m from Rampart,� said Officer Robin Lombardi, a two-year veteran who works on the Wilshire Division’s bicycle detail.

“I cringe,� she said, emphasizing that she supports the officers currently working in Rampart. “I’m immediately on the defensive. Now we have to prove ourselves. Before, when I approached someone, there was a mutual respect. But I don’t feel it now. . . . It’s not fair, but you just have to take it.�

Central Division Sgt. Letty Delgado said she still believes in the department and its people.

“For the most part, I think it’s in their hearts to do a good job,� she said.

Friday did present a chance for the public to thank officers. Community groups provided balloons and party favors for many stations.

Ruby Maillian, a longtime South-Central resident, offered fried chicken and potato salad to officers at the 77th Division as they streamed through the station’s courtyard. There “probably is low morale because of Rampart and Chief Parks’ stand� on discipline, she said, adding that now the public needs to support its officers.

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Contributing to this story were Times staff writers David Pierson, Nedra Rhone, Noaki Schwartz, Jason Song, Ana Beatriz Cholo, Sarah Hale, Erika Hayasaki, Oscar Johnson, Dalondo Moultrie and Kurt Streeter.