City leaders see a 'radically different' LAPD

LOS ANGELES - Eleven years after an anti-gang cop was arrested for stealing six pounds of cocaine from an evidence room, city leaders believe the Los Angeles Police Department has dashed the image of corruption, abuse and racial tension spawned by the revelations of the theft investigation.

Chief William Bratton says the LAPD is now ready to move "into the 21st century," after a federal judge this month freed his department from oversight by the U.S. Justice Department.

Civil liberties watchdogs are willing to acknowledge significant progress by the LAPD but insist there are still dramatic disparities in the way officers treat blacks and Latinos compared to other people.