officers - The Black Vault

page, name of
, city and state.)
Chief: 'I
am calm,
· collected;·
at ease'
By Howard S. Gantman
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
Los Angeles Police
Chief Daryl Gates said
Wednesday he regrets
calling the beating of Rod7
ney King by police officers
an "aberration" and hopes
the city's leaders can put
politics aside so he can
have a chance to restore ::­
the LAPD's battered image.
In an interview, Gates
told Copley News Service
that despite growing pressur~
from Mayor Tom
Bradley and other city officials
for him to step
down, he still. has no immediate
pl~s to retire.
Even with the department
inundated by complaints
about .the King incident,
the 64-year-old
chief said, "I don't have a
siege mentality at all. I ~
calm, collected, at ease.
Wearing a na~y bl?e
sports jacket, wh1te shrrt
and gray slacks with a
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
blue-striped tie, royal LAPD
hlue hanky and a Drug AwB:feness
and Resistance Education
pin· in his lapel, Gates sat at a
tttole decked with letters from
'-W:liat he calls "a silent majori­
·"'ty''• who continue to support
. him .
.... .
Top-ranking officers, secretaries
and clerks in his outer
office all wore metal "blue­
:~ibbon" pins to show support
·lbr: the chief and signs were
P.laced strategically around the
,r(>pin proclaiming: "We support
. A~ief Gates."
·~ ; ·But the chief - who cele­
'brated his 13th anniversary .as
head of the Los Angeles Police
Department on Sunday with a
rally by some 3,000 supporters
- said he was not "orchestrating''
a public relations campaign
to counter the ~ti-Gates
efforts.
THE OUTLOOK
Edition: THURS • 1
MAR 2 8 , 19 91
Front Section, Page 1
Title: CHIEF: "I AM CALM,
COLLECTED, AT EASE"
IChl!!acter:.
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
lOS ANGELES
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0 _ 3 3 B
lnd SE'r iiED INDEXEDi-.---J
SERIAUZED fiLE~~..o---... 1
APR 3 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES
Restore confidence
Gates spoke for an hour
about a wide range of subjects
after a morning news conference
where he announced a 10-
point plan to help restore public
confidence in the LAPD.
At the news conference, he
declined to discuss Councilman
Michael Woo's call earlier
Wednesday for his resignation
and stressed the positive results
he hoped to get from his new
plan. But he later spoke candidly
about the drive to force
him from office. .
The chief noted that Sima,
his wife of 21 years, had asked
him repeatedly to retire before
the March 3 King incident
sparked a. national outrage.
But he believes steppi~g
down now would be a disservice
to both the 8,300 LAPD office~s
and law enforcement supporters
throughout the city.
"I have to admit it has not
been an easy job. . . . I have a
vision of how to deal with crime
in this· state and I think across
the nation. I had hoped ·that
FBI/DOJ