Christopher Dorner manhunt over, but troubling issues remain

Ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner took his own life in a shoot-out, ending a rampage in which he is alleged to have killed four people. But tough issues remain ? including an official review of his firing, needed to rebuild trust in a department with a troubled history.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / February 16, 2013

An honor guard walks away after loading the casket of slain San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay into a hearse Thursday. MacKay was killed in a shootout outside the cabin in Big Bear, Calif. where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was barricaded inside.

Gabriel Luis Acosta/The Sun/AP

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As a criminal investigation, the case of ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner is virtually over.

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The rogue cop believed to have killed four people ? including two law enforcement officers and the daughter of a third officer ? took his own life at the end of a massive manhunt that ended with a fiery shootout in a cabin in southern California?s San Bernardino Mountains. There is no doubt about his responsibility for the string of killings nor any evidence that Mr. Dorner had accomplices who might have helped him evade capture for so many days.

But tough issues remain.

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Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has ordered an official review of Dorner?s charges that he was fired from the LAPD because of racism and corruption in the department. "I am aware of the ghosts of the LAPD's past,? Chief Beck said in announcing the review ? a reference to the Ramparts scandal, the Rodney King riots, and other dark episodes in the department?s history.

Most civil rights advocates ? including those who have butted heads with the LAPD in court over the years ? acknowledge that the department has improved, particularly under Chief William Bratton and now Chief Beck.

?The LAPD is by no means a perfect police department. But it's a much, much better one than it was,? writes political journalist and Los Angeles resident Marc Ambinder on the news and opinion website ?This Week.?

?Many, many, many bad police officers were forced out. Less than half of the LAPD is now white; the ranks of minority supervisors are growing,? Mr. Ambinder writes. ?It is hard to find a major community group in L.A. that does not concede that the?basic, street-level interaction?between police officers and citizens of all ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations has gotten much warmer, friendlier, and effective, even as they understandably point out exceptions.?

Still, suspicions about the circumstances of Dorner?s death ? and the charges he outlined in his Facebook manifesto before he began his rampage ? remain strong, especially among many in minority communities.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vLX1H5SP5Uk/Christopher-Dorner-manhunt-over-but-troubling-issues-remain

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