officers - The Black Vault

F0-:350 (Rev. o·8·81)
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
.. B dl A.. k" . ~~~:THURS. APRIL 3, 1991
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
LOS ANGELES TIMES
. . ft!_ . e~ s S, "'~::::E:e::::n~A:::eT:
-- ,__.,_ .. .. --·-- - ' nue: QUIT FOR GOOD OF CITY
Gates to c~~r.
ClassifiCation:
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CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3 B
• Police: The chief
promptly rejects the
demand. The mayor cites .
damage to the · ··
.department's reputation .: .
- and loss of public
confidence.
By HECTOR TOBAR
. :and RICHARD A. SERRANO
~.l-~:m.iES STAFF WRITERS
i
Mayor Tom Bradley called on
Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F.
Gates to resign Tuesday "for the
good of the LAPD and the welfare
of all of Los Angeles," a demand
the chief promptly rejected.
The standoff marketl a sharp
escalation in the monthlong con­
- troversy over the polic~ bea,ting of
'Rodney G. King, transforming .it
~ into a battle of wills between two
of the city's most poW.erful public
officials.
In a live televised address, Bradley
said he met privately with
Gates at City Hall earlier in the day
and asked the chief to step down
" from the post he has held for 13
_years. But Bradley said Gates to1d
him: "Mayor, I think you're wrong
and I will not resign."
, Having failed in private to persuade
the chief to resign, Bradley
· went before the public. "The Los
· Angeles Police Department is at a
crossroads in its great history," the
• mayor said. "When the public begins
to lose confidence in the chief,
·· and in the LAPD, the chief has
only one choice. He must' step
i: .aside."
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APR 10 1991
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Gates, emerging from his Parker
Center office after the mayor's
address, appeared calm and unr
·shaken and vowed not to resign.
"There are 8,300 members of this
: ·department who are depending on
me to stay and to provide ·some
! • leadership out of this situation,"
'Gates said. "I believe I can provide
that readership and~ will do that."
He added: "I don't believe that
8,300 police officers will follow the
mayor anywhere."
King was beaten March 3 by
LAPD officers who struck him
more ·than 50 times with their
batons after a car chase in the San
Fernando Valley.
· The beating, videotaped by a
amateur cameraman, ·has prompted
a. national outcry against police
brutality and many calls for Gates'
resignation. Gates has publicly
condemned the ·actions of the officers,
but claimed it was an "aberration"
and not part.of a pattern of
police abuse of citizens.
Bradley's call for Gates' departure
drew a wide range of p~edictions
about how the struggle between
the two leaders ·will be
resolved ..
'If the chief resigns, it will create
.a firestorm," said Councilwoman
Joy Ficus, a Gates supporter. "It
· would polarize the city, not heal
the city. I believe the only person
•. who can make the changes ret
quired within the department is the
1 chief of police himself." -~
Police Commissioner Melanie
Lomax, who often has been critical
of the chief, predicted otherwise.
·"Mayor Bradley's statements
will be given great weight," Lomax
said. "I. thin~_ it's going to be one of
FBI - LOS ANGEI.ES 1 f: .
those pivotal events in this crisis
that, in all likelihood, will increase
the pressure that has been brought
to bear on the chief of police."
· In his· speech, Bradley said the
King case, and Gates' refusal to
leave office, have· damaged the
department's reputation and ruined
' public confidence in the Police
' Department. . ·
"I simply will not stand by as our
~. ~ity is split apart," Bradley said.
• We must come together. We must
• heal." .
'
Directing many of his remarks to
.the ,ehief personally, the mayor
~ said: "Chief Gates, now is the time ·
. for you to do the right thing-for
. your officers, for your department
for the public you serve." . '
Bradley also addr~ssed the offil
cers under Gates' command. "As an
LAPD veteran, I empathize with
the thousands of honorable officers
who ·have watched helplessly as
the department's prestige has been
seriously tarnished .... The damage
to the department's reputation
cannot continue."
' His remarks, which lasted 3;.2
• minutes, were in sharp contrast to
his cautious statements in the past
k four weeks in which he always
• stopped short of calling for Gates'
i resignation.
' Earlier, Bradley had said Gates'
resignation would be "the only
way to start the healing process" in
~ ·a city divided by the beating, but
~ . that the decision tO resign was up
• to the c.hief.
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