38 L.A. Officers in Gang Raid Disciplined

Thirty-eight Los Angeles police officers are being disciplined for their involvement in an anti-gang raid last August during which a police task force allegedly ransacked apartments and roughed up residents on Dalton Avenue in Southwest Los Angeles, authorities said Thursday.

The officers implicated in the case--the largest number ever disciplined at one time as a result of an internal Los Angeles Police Department inquiry--were accused of violations of department regulations that range from lying to investigators to damaging personal property.

Allegations Made

Residents of the 3900 block of Dalton Avenue have alleged that during the Aug. 1 raid, they were hit and kicked by officers, and that some patrolmen spray-painted apartment walls with anti-gang slogans that read “LAPD rules,” “Rolling 30s die,”--a reference to a Crips gang--and “Opie Dog rules,” an apparent allusion to a police officer’s nickname.

Some residents of the neighborhood just west of the Coliseum claimed that their apartments and personal possessions were ransacked. They also said that when they were taken to Southwest Division police station, they were ordered to whistle the theme from the old “Andy Griffith” television show and forced to run a gantlet of officers. Those who did not comply were allegedly punched and had steel flashlights dropped on their heads.

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said at a press conference Thursday that nine of the 88 officers who participated in the raids will appear before a department tribunal. They ultimately could be fired or given suspensions without pay for as long as six months.

“This is not something I do with any joy at all,” Gates said, “but clearly, the situation got out of control. The officers were trying very hard to do the right thing--to solve the gang problem, to solve the narcotics trafficking problem. Unfortunately, while doing the right thing, they were doing it in the wrong way.

“While I vigorously defend my officers . . . I also vigorously and tenaciously defend the very strict discipline that we have in this system,” Gates said.

Twenty-five other officers have agreed to accept lesser suspensions without pay, in some cases as long as 22 days--the maximum an officer can receive without appearing before a tribunal. Two of those officers have already resigned from the department.

In addition, three officers have had letters of reprimand placed in their permanent files. Another officer implicated in the case and facing “serious discipline” was fired for a non-related offense, according to Cmdr. William Booth, a police spokesman.

None of the officers were publicly identified.

Sources close to the case said Gates not only upheld internal recommendations made earlier this year that at least 18 officers be disciplined but directed that other officers be investigated and, if necessary, held accountable for their actions during the Aug. 1 raids.

Gates would not say whether Capt. Thomas D. Elfmont, former commander of the Southwest Division station, who was supposed to be in charge of the raids but did not participate in them, was among those disciplined.

But while Gates praised Elfmont, 42, as a “very, very fine captain” who has a bright future in the department, the chief acknowledged that Elfmont has been transferred to a lesser job at police headquarters. Gates also said that Elfmont’s salary has been reduced one grade--an action that, according to records, will cost the captain 5.5% of his annual $78,446 income.

Some Southwest officers have said that they acted under what they assumed were instructions from Elfmont to “render the residences uninhabitable.” However, Gates told reporters that there were no such orders, attributing the officers’ actions to “inadequate supervision and misinformation.”

According to the chief, no one over the rank of sergeant was present at the scene. The officers, he said, may have overreacted because of a rumor that someone had called the Southwest station that day and threatened to assassinate a policeman. The officers were “under the illusion that they were going to meet with violence and a well-armed group,” Gates said.

The apartments were targeted for the raids after a series of gang-related drive-by shootings in the neighborhood. Officers obtained a warrant and ostensibly raided the apartments in search of narcotics.

But during the search, they allegedly smashed plaster walls, slashed furniture with knives, sledgehammered toilets and sinks, hacked apart stereos and leveled a shed. So methodical was the damage that the Red Cross had to provide emergency food and shelter for the four families who lived there.

Gates said that 20 “rocks” of cocaine were recovered during the raids, along with about five ounces of marijuana and a sawed-off rifle. Thirty-two people were taken into custody and nine arrested--six on narcotics and weapons-related charges and three on unrelated, outstanding felony warrants. The others were released.

Ultimately, only two teen-agers were prosecuted, both for possession of drugs.

When asked Thursday about the allegations that police sprayed graffiti and forced some residents to whistle the “Andy Griffith” theme, Gates replied only that the internal investigation “dealt primarily” with allegations of excessive property damage.

He noted, however, that some allegations raised during the investigation were unfounded or could not be substantiated. He declined to discuss specific allegations.

Officials of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the officers’ union, declined to comment on the case on Thursday. But league officials have sued the department over the case, alleging that the Internal Affairs Division violated the accused officers’ rights during the probe. That lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, is pending.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing the Dalton Avenue tenants, who are suing police in federal court for alleged civil rights violations, expressed satisfaction Thursday that so many officers are being disciplined.

“I think it’s appropriate, but I’m waiting for the day when they file criminal charges against these guys,” attorney Thomas E. Beck said. “It’s not enough they they be disciplined. These guys broke the law. They should be prosecuted.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is investigating the raids to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against any officers. Ed Ferns, head of the district attorney’s special investigations division, said the inquiry should be completed by the end of next week.