officers - The Black Vault

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f.0·350 (Rey. 5-8·81)
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Date: LOS ANGELES TH1ES
Edition: SAT APRIL 6 1 1991
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 24
More Than 'Plain
··--·-- .. ·· Tltl~: ~10RE THAN
. • Organization: Behind
. the outpouring of support
for Gates are four
. media~savvy professionals.
By LOUIS SAHAGUN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
The night before a newly formed
support group for Police Chief
Daryl F. Gates was unveiled at a
·news conference at Parker Center,
its leaders met at the .home of
actress Peggy Rowe Estrada for
· lessons in how to respond to reporters'
questions.
Playing reporter at the mock
press conference March 20 was
political consultant Eric Rose, an
adviser to Gates during his exploratory
campaign for governor in
1988. Estrada, the former wife of
television star Erik Estrada of
"CHiPS" fame, bore the brunt of
Rose's bruising questions.
"This is a lot different than what
I'd done before because this is real
life," said Estrada, a spokeswoman
for Citizens in Support of the Chief
of Police (CISCOP). "I thought,
'Give me a script and I'll be fine.' ' 1
• . In fact, much of the· group's
campaign to save Gates' job seems
to have been scripted, despite what
' Gates has described as a traditional
. grass-roots movement of "just
plain folks" rushipg forward in his
defense.
'fhe group has come a long way
since that evening. At a !uncheon
. Friday attended by more than
1,000 Gates supporters, CISCOP
. ·pulled a public relations coup:
Gates and George Holliday on the
same dais.
"George who?" a woman in the
·crowd asked when Holliday was
introduced. "Oh, that guy!"
It was Holliday, a San Fernando
Valley plumbing business manag­
.er, whose videotape of the beating
of black motorist Rodney G. King
last March 3 shocked the world.
Folks' CM~,~,
Now, Gates stood shoulder-toshoulder.
With Holliday, the man
. who, it could be argued, nearly cost
Gates his job as head of the Los
Angeles Police Department. They
shook hands as the crowd broke
· into applause and TV news cameras
recorded the event.
was anothe~ victory, albeit
I
t
. small, for CISCOP. But the images
?f Gates. and Holliday ex­
. changmg pleasantries would make
the TV news Friday night and give
the chief a· much-needed public
relations boost as he struggles to
stay in office.
. The pro-Gates group has, in only
a few weeks, attract€d thousands
of adherents, mainly from the extended
families of police officers
yc(nd segments of the LOs Angeles
business community. ·· ···
But at ~ts core, CISCOP is run by
four·media-savvy professionals.
strada-a tall, 35-year-'old Van
ENuys mother of two-acknowledges
that her acting exper.i-'
· · ence has h~lped her through iQtense
questioning by reporters
from acro~s the nation seeking
so-called average citizens who
support the chief. In fact, she has
ties to many people in Hollywood .
and is now the . point woman at
pro-Gates rallies and news conferences.
Working with her is Ed Cholakian,
55, an influential San Fernando
Valley businessman, who sits on 14
corporate boards and owns what is
believed to be the world's largest
collection of antique Cadillacs. He
founded the citizens' booster club
at the LAPD's Foothill Division
the unit that is under scrutiny ove~
the King beating. His role at CIS­
COP fy.nctions is to line up support
, from businessmen and elected officials
throughout the Valley,
Adelaide Nimitz, 57, is a 'public
relations expert and founder of
Crime Prevention Committee, a
citi~ens' group that helps ·organize
Neighborhood Watch programs.
CIVIL RIGHTS
or
Classification: 8 0-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
11
PLAIN FOLKS 11
Indexing:
rS~~RC~HE--0-------I~NO--~--ro----~
SERIAU~Eo.__ __ FILE0...._.. __ " 1
APR 1 0 1991
FBI - LOS ANGELES }
, Through .her contacts, she promotes
CISCOP events and works
the Ph?nes looking for volunteers.
·. Behmd them all, however,. is
Rose, a 25-year-old political con"
. sultant who normally makes $l 000
a day shepherding the campaigns
of conservative pc;>litic,al aspirants,
the most recent of whom was Los
Angeles County superv:isorial can_
didate Sarah Flores.
Rose, a former aide to state Sen.
E.d Davis (R-.Northridge) who
was Gates' predecessor as 'police·.
chi.ef, said he was asked by Gates''
office to help' CISCOP ·with media
. relations free of charge. He has
· orchestrated virtually every step
the pro-Gates forces have taken in
the past·two weeks. ·
These people and a· handful of
deQ,icated VQlunteers have combined
their talents and contacts to
hold a boisterous rally for Gates at
the Los Angeles Police Academy
that was attended by 4,000 people.
Among them was-feminist attorney
Gloria Allred, who stepped up to
the microphone and said: "Surprise!
Surprise!" The attorney, who
has made a career battling the
Establishment, said she was invited
by Rose.
The group also has gathered
14,000 signatures on petitions circulated
throughout the city calling
on Gates to remain on thejob.
The luncheon Friday at the
SportSmen's Lodge in Studio
, ·City came one day after the Police
.Commission put Gates on a paid
60-day leave of absence. The con­
~ro~ersial furl~ugh was. "a big help
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