Rampart residents hope verdicts will help restore trust in LAPD

LOS ANGELES - For some residents of the city's tough Rampart neighborhood, the convictions against three officers in the LAPD corruption case confirmed what they've believed for years - you can't always trust the police.

Among them is Hilario Hernandez, who claims officers framed him for cocaine possession several years ago. But the 45-year-old house painter, who was deported to El Salvador after his arrest and returned illegally, said he sees hope in Wednesday's verdicts.

''They can be an example to all the police officers not to mess around,'' he said through an interpreter.

The verdicts ended the first trial against officers arising from the department's corruption scandal in which police are said to have beat and shot innocent people, planted evidence, filed false reports and lied under oath to win convictions.

The allegations center on Rampart, an immigrant neighborhood just west of downtown filled with the working poor, many of whom speak little or no English.

It is one of the city's most crime-ridden sections.

Its businesses resemble fortresses, surrounded by imposing steel fences with spiked poles. Some residents say they feel like prisoners in their own homes, afraid to venture onto streets filled with drug dealers and gangs.

It's for that reason that some residents fear the verdicts. Several said they could send a chill through the Los Angeles Police Department, making officers less aggressive in fighting gangs.

''I'm worried. It's going to be bad,'' said 30-year-old Gabriel Romero, who supports the police and said they have helped quiet gang activity in the two years he has lived there.

''Gang members are going to do something, robbing people, a lot of things,'' he said.

Several people said officers should respond not by turning inward but by reaching out to help restore credibility in the eyes of the public.

''(The conviction) is giving them a bad reputation, that they're not doing a good job,'' said Claudia Perez, 20.

Lifelong Rampart resident Betty Rivera, 19, said officers need to reassure the community that they won't arrest people without cause. Otherwise, people may stop calling police even if they need help.

''If something happens to me I don't know if I can trust them. Rampart is the only police station I can call,'' she said.

The neighborhood's law-abiding residents are the corruption scandal's real losers, said Manuel Garcia, 28, a board member for the Clinica Monsenor, which provides medical and dental treatment for thousands of neighborhood residents.

Many are afraid of street hoodlums but are leery of turning to a police force they see as intimidating and unfriendly, he said. He hopes the verdict sends a message to police and tells residents that rogue officers will be held accountable.

''That trust that we have for the police institution has been broken, and it will take a long time to get it back,'' he said.