Police Department Can Be Sued Under RICO.

• Position: Los Angeles Police Department - Brief Article

A federal district court judge has ruled that the government's anti-racketeering statute, created to deal with drug bosses and organized crime figures, can be used in lawsuits against the embattled Los Angeles Police Department. Besides allowing one of the largest police departments in the United States to be dealt with as a criminal enterprise, the decision drastically increases the city's potential liability in its worst police scandal in decades and could triple the damages the city would otherwise face. The case involves claims by one of the many people who say they were victims of violent and corrupt officers at the department's Rampart Division. Legal experts said that the department would be the first police agency in the country to...