Erica Werner and Paul Chavez

About the author: Erica Werner and Paul Chavez are reporters for the Times Union newspaper in Albany, New York.

In 1998 it was discovered that many officers in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) framed innocent people for crimes they did not commit, perjured themselves to help get convictions, and participated in or covered up such crimes as theft, drug dealing, and even murder. Many officers—and some neighborhood residents —believed that these actions were justifiable because they helped reduce the area's crime rate. The residents have been reluctant to condemn the corrupt police officers because the corruption made the neighborhood's streets safer than they have been for years. While some neighborhood residents see the scandal as involving just a few "bad apples," others are bitter about their treatment from...