It has been said that “a lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets its pants on.” If that’s the case, Hollywood is once again about to circle the globe with the LAPD’s reputation.

We read today that there are plans to make a television movie about the “Rampart scandal.” A Daily Variety story accompanying the announcement assuredly notes that the scandal centers on the “widespread corruption” in Rampart Division in the 1990s, and that “more than 70 officers were implicated in misconduct.”

First off, we take issue with the broader characterization of a Rampart scandal, which should have been renamed long ago as the Rafael Pérez scandal. Because after all was said, written and investigated, the Rampart “scandal” resulted in four convictions – only two of which were for corruption. Also, as a result of Pérez’s lies, a federal court upheld a $15 million jury verdict for three Los Angeles police officers who were falsely arrested and prosecuted.

Now, after years of building trust and cooperation in the communities that need our officers’ protection the most, we are concerned that dramatic license will again be taken to twist the Rampart allegations into “proof” of widespread corruption in the LAPD – and that the actual facts in the Perez scandal will be glossed over in favor of what works creatively.

We note that the movie is to be based on a story by James Ellroy. If that is the case, we hope the movie will reflect Ellroy’s view of the scandal, of which he said in 2005: “…I've always characterized [the scandal] as a stick of dynamite with a wet fuse. Rampart is another of these misperceived criminal conspiracies. It's really the story of a handful of rogue, criminal cops who ratted out a wider number of untainted cops to save their own skins. And the entire event blew out of proportion into a media event that most people took to represent large-scale endemic corruption in the LAPD. In reality it wasn't that.”

We share Mr. Ellroy’s view that the Pérez case represented isolated officers whose wrongdoing was mischaracterized in an effort to taint every officer in the LAPD. We abhor corruption by police officers even more than those who claim the moral high ground (yet are willing to bend the facts to make profitable movies), because every officer ends up paying the price for those who fail to uphold their sworn oaths.

It is not fair to the innocent officers who were accused, and especially those still on the job protecting the public, to continue to misrepresent what happened at Rampart. While the substance of what Hollywood produces is fantasy, when movies based on widely reported incidents are inaccurate, we are compelled to continue to point out what really happened.