The Washington Post reported August 31, 2000 that in Los Angeles “U.S. District Judge William J. Rea said that the pattern of extreme misconduct shown by the LAPD suggests that it could be considered a ‘criminal enterprise,’ subject to lawsuits under federal anti-racketeering laws.” The Post further reported, “In a scandal still unfolding, officers are being investigated for allegedly orchestrating a widespread, violent conspiracy: shooting unarmed suspects, framing others by planting weapons or drugs on them, falsifying police reports and lying under oath in court.”

Five LAPD officers have been charged with felonies with more than 50 others under investigation. Almost 100 criminal cases linked to their actions have been thrown out. Some defendants who were convicted as a result of the officers’ actions have been released.

The Post quoted Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University of Southern California, as saying the LAPD could be brought to trial “for acting like an illegal mob.”