officers - The Black Vault
officers - The Black Vault
officers - The Black Vault
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But Tuesday, Bradley crossed<br />
the line. "Unfortunately, Chief<br />
Gates has not recognized the impact<br />
he is having on the LAPD,"<br />
the mayor said. "His reactions to<br />
the tragic Rodney King beating<br />
have made an ugly situation ·even<br />
worse." · ·<br />
'·"As mayor," he added, "Ihave<br />
· reluctantly concluded that<br />
I can no longer wait for Daryl_<br />
Gates to do what is best for the<br />
LAPD."<br />
Instead, the. mayor continued,<br />
Gates has embarked upon a public<br />
relations campaign to keep his job<br />
"that has only deepened our<br />
wounds and wid,ened our differences."<br />
·<br />
Gates denied that he has orchestrated<br />
a public relations effort pn<br />
his own behalf, saying that thousands<br />
of "just plain folks" h.ave<br />
come to his defense.<br />
<strong>The</strong> chief stressed that he would<br />
· step down · only if a panel he<br />
appointed last week to review<br />
LAPD procedures determines that<br />
· he was "derelict" in performing his<br />
duties.<br />
· "If they find that I have been<br />
- derelict ... I'll say goodby. But I<br />
don't thi'nk I have," Gates said.<br />
He read from a 1989 report by<br />
City Atty. James K. Hahn criticizing<br />
Bradley's ties to financial institutions<br />
that dealt with the city and<br />
the mayor's efforts to secure city<br />
funds for a scandal-plagued African<br />
trade group.<br />
fl' "Ethics is what we're really<br />
) talking about," Gates told repo~ters<br />
after citing the report. "He's called ·<br />
· on me to do the moral thing,<br />
getting into ethics. Well, no one's<br />
ever questioned my ethics. No<br />
one's ever questioned my integrity<br />
or my honesty." 6<br />
Last month, the Los Angeles<br />
County grand jury indicted four<br />
. LAPD <strong>officers</strong> in the beating on<br />
' charges that include assault w_ith a<br />
deadly weapon and assault under<br />
the color of authority. <strong>The</strong> <strong>officers</strong><br />
.have pleaded not guilty. ·<br />
In addition, six other govern-.<br />
ment inquiries into the Police De<br />
·partment and the King incident are<br />
. underway.<br />
Gates was appointed chief by the<br />
· Police Commission in 1978. According<br />
to the City Charter, a<br />
police chief has Civil Service protections<br />
and can be fired or disciplined<br />
by the commission only if it<br />
• can show "cause," usually interpreted<br />
to meaq misconduct or wi~l-.<br />
ful neglect of official duties. ·<br />
•<br />
As a result, there have been calls<br />
in City Hall to change the Charter.<br />
Despite the legal difficulties in<br />
ousting Gates, a publi~ groun~swell-fueled<br />
in part by Bradley s<br />
office and the American Civil Liberties<br />
Union-has grown demanding<br />
his resignation.<br />
Others who want him removed<br />
include several African-American<br />
·groups, such as the Urban League<br />
and the National Assn. for the<br />
Advancement of Colored People.<br />
A variety of loc;al and national<br />
political leaders also have called on<br />
Gates to step down, including City<br />
·Councilman Michael Woo, state<br />
Assembly Speaker Willie Brown<br />
(D-San Francisco) and U.S. Sen.<br />
·Joseph Biden (D-Delaware).<br />
Woo the only City Counci~<br />
membe~ to demand Gates' resignation,<br />
said after th~ mayor's speech:<br />
"Mayor Bradley has taken a very<br />
bold step in the best interests of the<br />
Police Department and the<br />
city. . . . Now it is up to Chief<br />
Gates to-let the healing begin by<br />
stepping down." .<br />
In contrast, Gates has rec~1ved<br />
the support of·Gov. Pete Wilson<br />
and several City Council members,<br />
including Picus, Hal Bernson, Joan<br />
Milke Flores and council President<br />
John Ferraro.<br />
Bradley's · speech, accordi?g to<br />
' sources at City Hall, culmmated<br />
weeks of behind-the-scenes efforts<br />
directed by his top aide,<br />
Deputy Mayor Mp.rk Fabiani. . .<br />
· On March 15, Bradley appomted<br />
:·\civil .libertarian. Stanley. S~ein<br />
·"· baum to the Pollee Comm1SS1on, a<br />
move hailed by those seeking the<br />
chief's resignation. On March 26,<br />
Bradley replaced one of the five<br />
Civil Service commissioners who<br />
eventually could decide whether<br />
Gates should be fired.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mayor's office also worked<br />
with community groups that are<br />
dem~nding new LAP.D leadership<br />
and lobbied· council members to<br />
publicly denounce the chief. .<br />
In public, ho~ever, Bradl~y sa1d<br />
his office was not workmg to<br />
unseat Gates. <strong>The</strong> mayor repeate.dly<br />
said he would not. call for the<br />
chief to step down because it was<br />
unlikely that Gates would do so .<br />
· "I think he has been advised by<br />
some people already and he's made<br />
it very clear that he has no i~tention<br />
of leaving," Bradley sa1q on<br />
March 21 during a tour of South<br />
Central Los Angeles. "He's told me<br />
that. So I don't )Jelieve in engaging<br />
·:in fruitless activities."<br />
Six days later, Bradley told a<br />
press conferenc'e: "<strong>The</strong>re have<br />
been a number of people who have<br />
£ailed for th~ chief's resignation. I<br />
>' have not done so. : . .-i think that<br />
; ~ the chief is the one wlio is going to<br />
.. have to recognize when his retirement<br />
is required in order to bring<br />
about that process."<br />
Under fire from various community<br />
groups and political_leaders,<br />
Gates has responded with his own<br />
public relations campaign. He has<br />
appeared on a number of television ·<br />
talk shows-including "Prime<br />
Time Live"· and "Face the Nation"<br />
...,..and addressed a crowd of<br />
supporters at a Police Academy<br />
rally. Los Angeles police <strong>officers</strong><br />
and their supporters began wearing<br />
blue ribbons to symbolize their<br />
solidarity with the chief and his<br />
department. ·<br />
. Gates' most comprehensive ef<br />
. fort· to restore confidence in the<br />
LAPD came last week, when he<br />
announced a 10-point plan to im<br />
·-.prove community relations and<br />
. ~·explore the causes of police brutal-<br />
. ity. . ' . (<br />
· <strong>The</strong> cornerstone of the plan was<br />
·, the .appointment of a committee<br />
~:chaired by retired state Supreme<br />
;· Court Justice John A. Arguelles.<br />
: <strong>The</strong> committee is ~o conduct an<br />
~ exhaustive inquiry into the LAPD's<br />
.' training practices and policies. ·<br />
·on Monday, Bradley countered<br />
. by announcing the appointment of<br />
: .. his own review panel, headed by<br />
· former Deputy Secretary of State<br />
· Warren M. C}:lristopher. ·<br />
· Argu~lles and Christopher said<br />
Monday they had discussed coordinating<br />
the efforts of their committees.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Christopher Commission<br />
· was a key element in the mayor's<br />
· campaign to rem.ove ·Gates from<br />
office, and the announcement that<br />
·the two committees could work<br />
together appeared to temporarily<br />
. frustrate Bradley's attempts at<br />
persuading the chief to resign.<br />
In a statement released Tuesday,<br />
Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler<br />
, hinted that acc~pting n;tembers of<br />
the Gates-appoint~d Arguelles<br />
Commission into the mayor's commission<br />
would compromise the latter's<br />
independence. ·<br />
"Areview [of ihe Police Department]<br />
that does not<br />
look to the city or the LAPD for<br />
financing or staffing is the· only<br />
way to ensure the commission's<br />
independence," Chandler said.<br />
"And a completely independent<br />
· review is what the city needs."<br />
By contrast; Gates said that<br />
merging the two panels "makes a<br />
lot of sense and so I'm all for it."<br />
In another development Tues-<br />
~~ ·day, ACLU officials said they had<br />
gathered petitions·with 20,000 sig<br />
-natures demanding Gates' resign a<br />
tion.