LOS ANGELES, March 14 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Thursday that a number of its officers as well as officers from other Southern California law enforcement agencies were under investigation for possibly using forged paperwork to purchase assault weapons.
The department said in a statement that it was cooperating with an investigation being conducted by the California Department of Justice that media reports said was aimed at the alleged use of forged documents by officers who bought assault rifles from gun dealers.
"It was determined that police officers from several California law enforcement agencies, including the LAPD, may have possible involvement in the case," the LAPD statement said.
The Los Angeles Times Thursday said the investigation, which also involves the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, had turned up as many as 40 letters provided to a single gun dealer authorizing police officers to buy an assault weapon.
State law used to allow police officers to purchase such weapons provided the officer gave the dealer a written authorization signed by their commander, though the Times said it was not clear if it meant that Police Chief Bernard Parks had to sign the documents or if another ranking officer could sign them.
The law has since been rescinded and assault weapons have been totally banned in California.
The letters in question appeared to have been used during a last-minute rush by officers to buy one of the weapons before the ban took effect.
Investigators told the newspaper that many of the questionable letters had signatures that appeared to be forged or had names of supervisors that were inaccurate.
"If the letters were forged, that's not a good thing," said Lawrence Wolff, an Encino gun dealer whose records were seized in the investigation. "It's like any other forgery. It's pretty rotten."
Forging paperwork could result in a felony charge against the officer.
The LAPD stated that police detectives came upon the questionable documents prior to June 2001 during a routine audit of the sales made by gun dealers in the city. While digging further, the detectives discovered the state's criminal investigation.
