The Police Department says its CRASH anti-gang units will be disbanded after a corruption scandal. Chief Bernard Parks ordered the elite squads deactivated by next weekend.
Allegations spiraling out of the Rampart Division’s Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, known as CRASH, have painted a picture of rogue officers operating like a gang themselves, beating, framing, and even shooting suspects.
At least 20 officers have been relieved of duty and 40 convictions have been overturned. Dozens of other criminal cases are under investigation.
The department plans to activate Special Enforcement Units in 30 days, which will operate under different requirements.
On Saturday, a coalition of 49 civil rights groups joined calls for an independent review of the scandal. Coalition supporters, including state Sen. Tom Hayden and representatives of Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, insisted that the police department cannot police itself.
Parks has said no outside investigation is necessary, pledging to implement 108 recommendations in a 362-page Board of Inquiry report released last week.
