officers - The Black Vault

FD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
•(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
~~uppo_rters Give Gates a R9using
BySHERYLSTOLBERG
::' ·TIMES STAFF WRITER
..
Date: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Edition: TUES., MAR 19, 1991
Front Section, Page 20
Welcome at Work·
~: SUPPORTERS GIVE GATES
A ROUSING WELCOME AT WORK
r ... In a show of support that brough~ tears to
t the eyes of Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F.
f. Gates, hundreds of Police Department officers
and civilian employees lined the corridor
to the chiers office as he arrived for work
Monday, clapping, waving yellow ribbons and
chanting, "Gates must stay!"
1
The greeting was intended to give the
embattled chief an emotional lift as civil
~ rights leaders and other public figures-from
\. Jesse Jackson on the left to conservative
columnist George Will 'on the right-have
called for his resignation over the police
beating of an unarmed motorist.
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, district
attorney's investigators were pressing ahead ·
with their criminal probe into the videotaped
attack on Altadena resident Rodney G. King.
After the indictment last week of four LAPD
officers on felony assault charges, authorities
are now gathering evidence for a possible
case against 11 other officers who watched
but did not intervene.
But at Parker Center, the Police Department's
downtown headquarters, the mood
was festive. Gates, looking a bit like a
triumphant politician, beamed as he made his
way along the sixth-floor corridor, stopping
to exchange handshakes and hugs with
employees, one of whom presented him with
a dozen red carnations.
__
. · "I support him wholeheartedly,"·said civil­
~ ian employee Cookie Longacre after handing
•. Gates the bouquet "Like the rest of the
department, I care a great deal for him. He
! · needs to know that people are behind him on
: this."
As ·he entered his corner office, Gates
spotted his longtime secretary, Mary Miller
wiping tears from her eyes. Then his o~
blue eyes grew watery.
"Well," the outspoken chief later declared,
"this is probably the first
time in my entire life that I've been speech­
•. less. I did not expect this. I'm just over-
~ whelmed by il" .
, Tl~e event ~as orchestrated by public
relations man Michael Sands, who said he was
contacted Sunday by high-ranking Police
Department officers and civilian employeesas
well as workers in other city departments-who
wanted to surprise the chief
with a show of support. Sands called it a
"grass-roots" effort. He would not name his
1:lients.
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
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The greeting capped a weekend during
which Gates received similar shows of support.
On Friday night, at .a dinner for police
reserve officers during which entertainer
Tony Orlando performed, Gates was serenaded
by one of Orlando's backup singers. The
song: "That's What Friends Are For."
·.On Sunday, Gates was honored with a
.- "Medallion of Merit" award at the annual
black-tie St. Patrick's Day· ~er of the­
Society of the Friendly Sons of SL .Patrick of
: Los Angeles, held at the Beverly Hilton. .
Gates was among 40 dignitaries, from
(··former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr. to
.· retired USC chancellor James H. Zumberge,
seated at the head table. Each received a
polite round of applause except Gates, who
·was given a rousing standing ovation by
many in the crowd of 1,000.
. "I find this to be an insightful night
: 1 already," Gates said in accepting the award.
·. "From what you've given me here, you are
certainly the friendliest sons I've seen in a
long time-certainly far different from the
group that came to see me at headquarters
the other day."
The remark was in reference to last
Thursday's Police Commission meeting, during
which hundreds of angry residents demanded
Gates' resignation. ..
On Monday, at an impromptu press confer­
' . enc.e, Gates vowed once again not to step
· down and then took a few potshots at those
who have called for him to do so, among them
San Jose Police Chief Joseph D. McNamara
and U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.