LOS ANGELES (By Phil Willon, LAT)
October 30, 2009
― Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa will select a new
police chief at a time when crime is
declining and the city is enjoying a
prolonged respite from racial strife,
sparing him from the political perils
that bloodied the three previous mayors
facing similar appointments.
Even the potential gift of a
controversy-free selection process,
however, does little to diminish the
pressure on Villaraigosa to name a
successor capable of measuring up to
William J. Bratton.
The outgoing police
chief is largely credited with
transforming the LAPD into a more
effective and accountable agency that
has salved decades of animosity with
minorities in Los Angeles.
"I think a city as diverse as Los
Angeles will always have tensions among
different groups of people. If there is
harmony today, it's a fragile harmony,
which is why the next chief of police
will have to really work hard to make
sure the rank and file operate in a way
that is colorblind," said City
Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district
includes San Pedro and portions of South
Los Angeles. "The only thing a mayor is
judged on is crime stats. I think
overall the public wants crime to
continue to go down, to stay down, and
they'll hold the mayor responsible."
The consequences are not lost on
Villaraigosa, who considers the drop in
crime among his greatest achievements as
mayor and touted it during last spring's
reelection campaign.
Every morning, an e-mail pops up on his
BlackBerry with the city's
up-to-the-minute homicide rate, down to
the decimal point. Since he took office,
homicides are down 37%, and violent
crime is down 20%, he notes.
"None of us do this alone," Villaraigosa
said during a recent interview in his
City Hall office. "First and foremost,
the mayor and the police chief need to
have a partnership."
The mayor's search for a new partner
began Wednesday when he started
interviewing the three finalists
selected by the Los Angeles Police
Commission. He could announce his
decision as early as Monday.
Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, Deputy
Chief Charlie Beck and Deputy Chief
Michel Moore are all respected, veteran
LAPD commanders. All have trained under
Bratton and almost assuredly would
continue his reforms and policies. All
are white men.
The similarities among the finalists
make the selection process even less
perilous for Villaraigosa, by removing
the incessant politics, racial and
otherwise, that clouded past decisions.
Bratton's recent predecessors, Bernard
C. Parks, Willie L. Williams and Daryl
F. Gates, were ousted in part after they
lost support from City Hall, city
residents and the Police Department's
rank and file. Confidence in Parks
disintegrated after disclosures of
corruption in the Rampart Division.
For
Gates, it was the beating of Rodney G.
King and the 1992 riots.
Former Mayor Tom Bradley appointed
Williams, an outsider from Philadelphia
and the LAPD's first American American
police chief, but Williams lost the
confidence of the next mayor, Richard
Riordan, who tapped Parks to replace
him.
Mayor Jim Hahn's decision to oust Parks
in 2002 cost him support among many of
L.A. African American voters and, he
believes, ultimately contributed to his
unsuccessful bid for reelection even
though he won praise for appointing
Bratton to the post.
"I think the significant difference at
this moment is that the transition is
not marked by controversy," said Los
Angeles County Supervisor Mark
Ridley-Thomas. "This is the only
instance of which I'm aware of the last
almost 20 years. . . . I think it's
significantly attributable to the skill
set of Bill Bratton and the temperament
of Antonio Villaraigosa."
Villaraigosa calls the selection of the
three finalists an affirmation the
city "has come a long way," emphasizing
they were selected by a Police
Commission that is the "most progressive
in the history of Los Angeles."
The panel includes a prominent African
American civil rights leader ― John
Mack ― and a membership that includes a
Hispanic and an Asian American lawyer,
both of whom served as U.S. attorneys,
and a gay constitutional lawyer, the
mayor said.
No matter who is selected as the next
police chief, however, he will have a
difficult time matching the political
influence enjoyed by Bratton, who strode
into Los Angeles seven years ago with
national acclaim for taming crime in New
York and Boston.
Villaraigosa enjoyed a tight political
alliance with the outgoing chief, and
benefited greatly from it, even though
he inherited Bratton from his
predecessor, Jim Hahn.
Villaraigosa reappointed Bratton to a
second term and spearheaded efforts to
add 1,000 officers; Bratton aggressively
campaigned for Villaraigosa's reelection
and ballot initiatives.
Bratton said the biggest challenge ahead
for both the mayor and the next police
chief will be to preserve and protect
the gains made under his leadership.
"The toughest issue will be the budget,"
Bratton said. "We can survive for a
couple years on lean budgets without
really stalling the momentum, but if it
goes on for more than two or three
years, the challenge for the chief will
be how to deal with morale, how to deal
with aging equipment, how you deal with
facilities that aren't as maintained as
well as they have been."
Bratton expressed confidence that all
three finalists would be up to the task,
praising them as intelligent, innovative
and tenacious.
Richard Close, president of the Sherman
Oaks Homeowners Assn., said that is one
reason he is confident Villaraigosa
cannot help but make a good choice.
"I believe the mayor is smart enough to
focus on one goal ― continue the
progress of the last seven years," he
said. "All else is secondary."
