officers - The Black Vault

Still, during several recent exchanges,
he has extended what
. some considered newfound
warmth to those with whom he has
traditionally been at odds.
In a private meeting with the
mayor and several members of the
Police Commission about the beating
incident, Gates was "surprisingly
cooperative," said one official
in attendance who asked not to be
identified. "He was a very different
man." · ·
Later that afternoon, Gates embraced
leaders of the Salvadoran
community, who last month had
demanded an apology for what
they called his racist remarks
about the killer of a female Los
Angeles police officer.
Although the meeting had been
scheduled before the videotaped
beating was aired, Gates up to that
point had been "very angry . . .
very unresponsive . . . on the
defensive;" said Madeline Janis,
executive director of the Central
American Refugee Center.
During the 45-minute gathering
at the chief's Parker Center office,
he agreed to all their demands,
Janis said, including a public statement
of regret, which he told
Salvadoran leaders they could
draft for him.
"We found a changed person,"
she said. "He was still Chief Gates,
but he was attentive and responsive
and he listened. We were
flabbergasted, frankly."
His small circle of assistant and
deputy chiefs insist that they have
seen only "a tower of strength."
When Gates first called in his top
commanders to announce some
corrective steps-including both a
criminal and internal investigation,
a review of all training material
and the preparation of psychological
profiles of officers in excessive
force cases-he was in total control,
said Deputy Chief William
Booth.
"He said, 'Here's your mission
and yours and yours and
yours,'" Booth said. "Then he said,
'Now I'll listen to comments and
views . . . just don't anybody tell
me we're not going to do it.'"
Assistant Chief Robert Vernon,
head of operations, said: "We don't
have pity parties. We do business.''
Through it all, one thing Gates
has been in no danger of losing is
his sardonic, often self-mocking
wit.
Last week, before running off to
federal court to testify in a civil
suit brought by a 22-year-old Lati •
no man who has claimed that
officers "brutalized" him in a 1989
incident in El Sereno, Gates
quipped that the man's attorney
apparently hoped that the chief's
"bad publicity" would rub off on
jurors.
0
nee on the witness stand,
Gates acknowledged that he
was not aware of many details of
the lawsuit, which claims that the
department has an unconstitutional
policy of "hogtying" suspects by
using a rope and handcuffs to bind
their hands and feet together.
The plaintiff's attorn~, John C.
Burton, then asked: "DO you understand
that you are a defendant
in this case?" .
Gates replied: "I understand I am
a defendant in almost every case."
Clearly, the most publicly emotional
moment for Gates came
during a rousing speech last
Wednesday to officers who had
gathered at the Police Academy for
an "LAPD Day" luncheon.
As his colleagues finished their
grilled chicken and rice pilaf, Gates
took the podium and spoke extemporaneously
about the numerous
recent shooting attacks on police.
There were the two officers
wounded in North Hollywood, he
said, for one of whom the only
concern was whether he had done
th~ right thing in shooting the
suspect.
The other, ·On ;his back in the
hospital with a bullet lodged in his
neck, told him: "Chief, I am just so
proud to be a member of the Los
Angeles Police Departme~t," Gates
said. .
Then there was Tina Kerbrat,
the first female officer killed in the
line of duty, whose husband told
Gates at the funeral, .. Chief, she
was so proud, so very proud. . . . I
want to thank you and the depart-
•
ment for what you have done.''
Then, Gates, his voice beginning
to boom, said: "This man, who just
lost his wife, the mother of his
children . • . wanted to thank the
Los Angeles Police Department.
"Folks . • • if that does not
encourage your heart, if that does
riot n~urish your spirit, if that does
not make you want to stand up and
say proudly ••. 'We love the
LAPD, we are proud to be part of
the LAPD, and we hold our heads
high' , .
Th~~ ·h·e paused, maybe eight
seconds, the words hanging in the
silent gymnasium where they were
gathered.
"Thank you," ~e finally said,
"for encouraging and nourishing
my heart."
Times staff writers Sheryl Stol·
berg, Hector Tobar and Patt Morrl·
son contributed to this story._