LA Will Pay For Police Mistakes
Stung by a police corruption scandal, the City of Los Angeles announced Thursday it is setting aside millions of dollars to deal with lawsuits from people the city wrongly jailed.
CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes reports L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan wants to earmark 25 years worth of tobacco settlement money - as much as $360 million - to pay for anticipated lawsuits. The plan has quickly come under fire.
"The money from the tobacco settlement ... is supposed to save lives, not save face," said Dr. Richard F. Corlin, a Santa Monica physician and speaker of the American Medical Association's House of Delegates.
"It is corrupt in and of itself to steal the tobacco settlement money to pay off the price of political problems and police corruption," Corlin said in a statement Thursday.
Some members of the City Council said the money already is earmarked for street improvements mandated by the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
Riordan's announcement came the same day a judge threw out the sentences of nine more people whose convictions were tainted by alleged rogue police officers.
The new dismissals bring to 40 the number of convictions overturned. District Attorney Gil Garcetti says dozens of additional cases are under review. "My highest priority remains to free those who have been wrongfully imprisoned, wrongfully convicted, wrongfully punished."
As many as 20 officers have been relieved of duty, fired, suspended or have quit since the investigation started last fall. Police have refused to say how many officers are still under suspicion.
Garcetti said he is doubling the number of prosecutors assigned to the investigation, with a staff of 19 expected to be on board within the next two weeks.
Former undercover officer Rafael Perez, convicted of stealing cocaine from an evidence locker, has detailed the corruption in his former unit, the Rampart Division near downtown, and suggested it is more wide-ranging.
Meraz, the highest-ranking officer to be disciplined in the corruption scandal, could be fired or receive as little as a written reprimand. An LAPD disciplinary panel is expected to decide his punishment on Monday.
No charges have been filed against any officers implicated in the corruption, although police have recommended prosecuting three officers and Garcetti has said he expects his investigation to result in charges.
City officials have estimated lawsuits associated with the city's burgeoning police corruption scandal, in which officers are accused of beating, framing and even shooting innocent people, could cost at least $125 million.
Riordan said Thursday that the city can avoid breaking its budget, reducing services or raising taxes if it raises about $100 million in bond money by giving up three times that amount in tobacco funds it will receive over 25 years.
"This is the best use of these dollars," he said.
"This would allow us to cover our libilities for the first several years, I believe, and I hope our total liabilities. We're not forced to take a big hit right away."
Under the national $206 billion tobacco settlement, Los Angeles is to get up to $300 million over 25 years. The money is intended to repay states, cities and counties for health care costs associated with smoking.
Riordan said the city did not have a formal spending plan for the money but it likely would have been spent on anti-smoking programs and street improvements. His proposal requires approval from the City Council.
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