Officer Kulin Patel is trying hard to put the past behind him, but it keeps bubbling up.

It doesn't help that a reporter is once again forcing him down the dank hallway of an east Los Angeles tenement - it's dark and the bullet-riddled body of suspected gang member Juan Saldana looms large.

Recalling the incident and the tidal wave of controversy that has come crashing down on him since, Patel is by turns sorrowful and confused. But the overwhelming flavor in his voice - a twangy American accent with an underlying music that betrays his Gujarati roots - is defiance.

As one of a few dozen Indian police officers in the country, Patel, 37, has earned the dubious distinction of being the only one ever to be embroiled in a major law enforcement scandal.

The 1996 killing of Juan Saldana - a shooting for which he initially received a commendation for bravery - has cast a long and suspicious shadow on his life since the Rampart Scandal first rocked the Los Angeles Police Department in 1999.

In September that year, Patel's colleague, officer Rafael Perez, was caught stealing a large quantity of cocaine from a police locker. In return for a light sentence, Perez opened his mouth and a parade of LAPD horror stories came pouring out.

According to Perez, unprovoked beatings, cover-ups and over-eager shootings were all in a day's work for the Rampart division's elite gang-fighting unit, formerly known as CRASH. His long list of revelations detailed, among other things, a dramatically different version of the Saldana shooting, than that contained in the official report.

Saldana was unarmed and running away when Patel shot him, Perez contends. Later, he and other officers planted a pistol by the dying man's side and lied to protect themselves.

Those allegations bought Patel immediate suspension from active duty.

Last week, however, over loud grumblings of bias from watchdog groups, a police disciplinary committee finally cleared him of charges and reinstated him to the force.

But the 12-year LAPD veteran is far from being elated.

Speaking over the telephone from his home in Castaic, California, Patel says the past two years of intense media scrutiny and public backlash have taken a heavy toll on him, his wife Aruna and their five-year-old son. It's an ordeal he's not going to get over soon.

"It's been really stressful, more stressful than being in the shooting itself," he says. "You can put me in a situation like that any day and I'll be fine, alone and out-gunned - at least I know who I'm up against. Here I don't."

Apart from the occasional trip to his lawyer's office, he has had to spend most of his time at home, watching television and keeping to himself.

"You're a prisoner in your own home and you're not allowed to make any comments about what's going on," he explains. "I've basically been a hermit. I don't go anywhere, I don't talk or interact with anyone."

And even though he's been exonerated in the Saldana shooting, he can't see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

"It's a relief for now, but it's not over," he notes. "I feel better now than say a couple of months ago, but the department could still be looking into other incidents. The families have also filed a civil case against me and the city."

Patel insists that all of Perez's charges are groundless. Even though numerous other CRASH officers implicated by Perez have been fired or have resigned, the Rampart squad, in Patel's view, was always squeaky clean.

"For me, it was great," he says. "I never saw anything wrong going on."

He certainly doesn't have fond feelings for his former colleague.

"In order to get a lighter sentence, he (Perez) came up with all this stuff," he fumes. "And everyone just ran with everything that idiot said without ever trying to corroborate it."

Although the experience has not made him want to quit the police department, his career as a beat cop is over, Patel says.

"I've been there and done that," he notes. "After all of this, I think I'll put in for a desk job."

So does he regret his career choice? "You're going to think this is funny, but I became a cop to get some action," he confides. "That's the only reason. As far as running people down and getting into gun-fights, that's what I wanted."

Well, officer Patel got his wish. And then some.

Earlier report
LA police panel clears Indian officer

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