LAPD improved since Rampart

After facing its darkest days following the Rodney King beating and Rampart police scandal in the 1990s, the Los Angeles Police Department has significantly redeemed itself in the eyes of the public, according to a Harvard University study released Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

A full 83 percent of city residents say the LAPD is doing a good or excellent job - up from 71 percent two years ago, the study said. The percentage of people saying the department was doing an excellent job doubled in the period, the study found.

Survey results showed the public now sees a kinder, gentler and more effective LAPD - although only half of residents thought the department treated all races fairly "almost all" or "most of the time." The study found that the quality and quantity of law enforcement has improved since 2002 even as police used less serious force each year since 2004.