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Los Angeles City Council agrees to federal police reforms

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The Los Angeles City Council moved closer Tuesday to reaching a settlement with the Justice Department and avoiding a lawsuit aimed at reforming the city's troubled police department.

In a 10-2 vote, the council agreed, in principle, to a consent decree that would give a federal judge oversight of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The council wants to make some changes to the 88-page agreement and city and federal officials are expected to meet later this week to discuss the details.

If the city does not agree to a consent decree, the Justice Department says it will file a lawsuit accusing the LAPD of engaging in a pattern or practice of civil rights violations.

ALSO Los Angeles Police Department timeline

ON AIR CNN Correspondent Charles Feldman speaks with an LAPD officer who broke the department's code of silence and reported alleged police misconduct See the exclusive interview at 8 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday on CNN's The World Today

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Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Bernard Parks had been strong opponents of an agreement that would give the federal government control of the LAPD. Last week, Riordan said he would support a modified consent decree that does not give monitors authorities to run the department's day-to-day operations.

"This is yet another positive step and we look forward to working with the negotiating team to reach a final agreement," Assistant Attorney General Bill Lann Lee said from Washington after the vote. Lee heads the Justice Department's civil rights division.

Justice Department investigators began investigating allegations of civil rights abuses and use of excessive force against the LAPD more than four years ago. They concluded earlier this year that the department showed a "pattern and practice" of using excessive force and infringing on the rights of minorities.

The probe intensified last September, after former Officer Rafael Perez admitted to witnessing or participating in unjustified shootings, evidence planting, falsifying arrest reports, perjury and framing innocent people while he worked at the Rampart Division's anti-gang unit.

More than 100 convictions have been overturned on charges that anti-gang officers lied under oath, planted evidence, wrote false reports and, in some cases, shot unarmed suspects. Some 70 officers are under investigation in the worst scandal to hit the department in its history.

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Another conviction overturned in LAPD scandal
August 4, 2000
LAPD officer pleads guilty to federal civil rights charges
August 4, 2000
LAPD officers face administrative charges in controversial shooting
July 26, 2000

Department of Justice proposed consent decree
City of Los Angeles notes on proposed plan
Independent Analysis of the Los Angeles Police Department's Board of Inquiry Report on the Rampart Scandal

The Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles County District Attorney Homepage
United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California

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