Joseph Wambaugh

About the author: Joseph Wambaugh, the author of numerous crime and police books, was a policeman in the Los Angeles Police Department for fourteen years.

Critics of the police erroneously allege that police departments are awash in corruption and need external oversight. However, during the corruption scandal in the Rampart division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), it was the LAPD that caught the rogue officer whose confession started the investigation. It was also the Los Angeles Police Department that verified the officer's allegations of misconduct. Furthermore, despite all the scandal, relatively few officers have been charged with serious crimes. Unfortunately, the LAPD will most likely use draconian tactics while investigating the wrongdoing in an effort to convince critics that the department can police itself.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD...