officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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••
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
/lnterim ·-~­
Chief to Be 7
·'steward~
• Succession: An LAPD :'
career official replaces ·­
Gates and promises not to ~o
• J
be 'revolutionary.' ~~
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By LOUIS SAHAGUN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
:,
Assistant Police Chief David·
Dotson awoke in the middle o£
the night wondElring if he would be
asked on Thursday to assume com-_
mand of the second largest police
force in the nation.
•·
Shortly before noon, he waS.··
summoned to the city Police Com-•
mission's executive office. When·
he emerged a few minutes lateril
the 57-year-old career police offi­
·cer, who has headed sensitive and·
potentially explosive divisions•
ranging from narcotics to anti-ter-:
rorism; was fighting back tears. ;
The commissioners told him:
they had decided to put Police'
Chief Daryl F. Gates on paid leave
for 60 days, then asked if he would·
be interim manager of the Lo(
Angeles Police Department. ·.~
"When he came out I put my
hand out and said, 'Chief, if there is:
anything you need, you got it," sai
to enhance their morale by the-;
accomplishment of their tasks."
He described his role as that of &r
"steward. I am a careta'ker, an~'
'-interim manager, and I understa~d~
that role very clearly. I will not be
revolutionary in what I do." =7
In selecting Dotson, the commis.;'
sion bypassed the only other· as?
sistant chief on the force, Robert L._:
Vernon. A third assistant chil:iC
· Jesse B~ewer, retired-a month ago.·:
Dotson declined to .speculate oil.:
why he was chosen by the com.i
missioners. "They said it was i:t..
personnel matter and didn't wanf
to respond," Dotson said. However, 1
the fact that the city has agreed W
pay $450;000 to settle a lawsuit
involving Vernon may have fig-:
ured in the· decision. :-
Michael Zinzun, a former Black~
Panther Party official, saido
that Vernon used a police computer
to gather information to damage:.
his 1989 campaign for the Pasadena
Boar.d of Directors. Vernon had ..
said he only gained access to .a:
computerized file of media reports. ~
Dotson, a Newhall resident;:>
joined the force in May, 1958, and
rose steadily through the ranks. He ·
was promoted to sergeant in 1964.
and to captain in 1972. He later
became deputy chief in charge of'·
narcotic~ and vice operations. 'Ten··
.days ago, he was named director of
the department of administrative
services, which oversees automat:!d
ed systems and finances. ~s
·;'1
"He chooses his words -veryx:.
carefully, and he is very soft-spo-· ~
ken," said Lt. Morrison. "But don't .•
be fooled by still waters.· WheJ!,~
D9tson wants something, it gets.;
done." · ;;
li.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Date: FRI. APRIL 5 19 91
Edition:Front Sectio~, Page 22
INTERIM CHIEF TO BE
Title: II STEWART"
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0 _ 3 3 B
SEARCHED·-~-- INOEXEO. ___ I
SERIAUZED·--- fllE0•----1
APR 1 0 1991
FBI LOS ANGELES 4
:.:the employees of this department," .. LJ t.fA =- ~-~p; t I 't'i.~l -))-~0~
FBI/DOJ