Calif. AG: Police department abused authority

By THOMAS WATKINS, The Associated Press
8:06 p.m. April 28, 2009

LOS ANGELES — A small police force that patrols two gritty cities near Los Angeles routinely beat up suspects and arrested innocent people, the state attorney general alleged Tuesday in a scathing report.

The report calls the 45-officer Maywood Police Department sexist, racist and discourteous and says among other abuses, officers used a Taser on a handcuffed man and his father and beat another suspect in the face after arresting him for throwing a bottle at them.

Several officers have been placed on administrative leave, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said, and one officer was charged with 17 felony counts stemming from the sexual assaults of three women.

The department "was a mess," Brown said at a news conference. "When you have rogue cops, it's just intolerable in a free society."

Maywood Police Chief Frank Hauptmann said at a new conference that the department has implemented tougher policies on officers' misconduct.

Those accused of misconduct were not allowed to remain on duty, he said.

"Simply because an allegation or accusation is made does not necessarily mean that it, in fact, happened," Hauptmann said.

Brown said he would seek a court order requiring Maywood police to make reforms outlined in the report. The department has tried to remedy its shortcomings and the use of excessive force has subsided, he said.

But "the underlying structural and cultural causes of many of the deficiencies ... have not been remedied," the report states. "The attempt to reform the department is in its infancy."

Maywood is a city of at least 30,000 residents about seven miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Its police department also provides law enforcement for nearby Cudahy.

The report says the department was an "agency of last resort" for officers who couldn't make the grade at other agencies. There is only one woman on the force. Uniforms are still emblazoned with the outdated title, "Policeman."

The report said officers seeking trips to Las Vegas and other perks from Maywood Club Tow impounded 17,773 vehicles in Maywood and Cudahy between 2002 and 2007.

Many of the drivers were undocumented immigrants without licenses.
Drivers were charged at least $1,200 to get back their vehicles, and the cities earned at least $200 per impounded car.

"This revenue appears to have been the primary motivation for impounding such an extraordinary number of vehicles," the report states.
Attorney Fariba Rahimi, a spokeswoman for Maywood Club Tow, denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were politically motivated.

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