The RAMPART scandal led to a relation of diverse illegal operations, shootings and incrimination by some members of the L.A.P.D. The initial case was in 1997 during which an officer in duty, Lyga, killed his colleague, Gaines, in a road rage shootout. Lyga claimed that Gaines who was apparently connected to Death Row Records had initiated the shootout pointing the gun at him. This was connected to a bank robbery in November the same year during which another officer Mack in conjunction with his girlfriend working in the bank masterminded the robbery.
In February 1998, a detainee Jimenez was mercilessly beaten by Hemitt a Rampart police officer while hand capped at the station leading to serious stomach injuries. This chain of misconduct continued with Perez who was initially involved in the bank robbery stealing cocaine from the store room in the station. (Geuras & Garofalo, 2010). This led to diverse investigations leading to discovery of more than 100 overturned convictions with 70 officers accused of misconduct.
The evidence in these cases indicated unethical behaviors within the unit which was caused by limited supervision, poor hiring practices and lack of training within the police force. The police station had offered the officers control and power over gang members, the public and detainees making it hard for them to control the Rampart scandals. The informal network was characterized by limited supervision of the officers making it possible for them to mistreat detainees, steal within the station and cover gang operations as they worked off duty for them (Thomas, 2011).
Ethics within the work place involves conducting ones duties responsibly and with integrity which lack in Rampart. Violation of this code of ethics would be incriminating a fact which would have been discovered if the officers had been supervised effectively. This indicates that the occurrences were caused by lack of ethics among the officers, limited supervision and lack of proper training before induction.
References
Thomas, D. J. (2011). Professionalism in policing: An introduction. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Thomas, D. J. (2011). Police psychology: A new specialty and new challenges for men and women in blue. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.
Geuras, D & Garofalo, C. (2010). Practical Ethics in Public Administration. Management Concepts, Incorporated 3rd Edition: ISBN: 9781567262957
