officers - The Black Vault

•
I .D""
Holliday, who is trying to sell his
life story to a movie productign
company, readily accepted. Rose's
invitation a week ago to attend the
$25~a-plate luncheon and receive a
CISCOP award for "comiJ;lunitY
service." · · • .
:: At the luncheon, Gates denied .
that he has ·orchestrated a Pt!l;lJic
relatiOns effoff on hi~ own b~~aif,
·insisting that thou~ands of .. JUSt
plain folks" have come to; his
defense. · . . . •:;;- .
"It's been said I've had a ·p,ubli~
relations campaign," Gates tol!i: ~he
audience, which greeted·him,y.rith
a standing ovat~on and chaqts .of
"Gates must stay!" I)' ;
. "All of this has been sponf.¥1eous,"
Gates said. "F9lks, yester~~;Y
I felt horrible. Today, I feel goqd.' .
Indeed, the chief felt so goo~ ~
couldn't resist a joke. Turning .to
Holliday, h~ quipped: "As a guy .
who never goes to the movies~..and
· loves home movies, . that w~ £1
lousy movie. . . . If it wasn·~~for
our helicopter, the lighting v.;ould
have been terrible." The audifl-Pce
laughed loudly. 0 ;
nearby, Rose surveyed
Standing the Police Chief and HollJ~ay .
with satisfaction. He had pulled off
the unthinkable in only a week?and
a half, aria on a shoestring bu~~¢t.:
As he said before -the event:
"See, everything we do in Sfhis
society is visual. What more ~al
way is there to express what .we
believe than to honor the man ~at
took tlie video-pure and simpl~~
!'What he [Holliday] -did for1the
department was a brave and wpnderful
thing in the long run-s1m-
, • IJ..J
ple. . .. .,., .•
Rose's efforts may be air.ped
beyond just· getting Gates nes}}_ed
comfortably back in the ch~srs
suite at Parker Center. ~.
The chief was recently con~}d- .
ered ;: can_?! date for .the post~~~·
••
FBI director and President Bush's
drug czar. Some who know him
well have suggested he may well
'have postponed his· long-awaited
departure from the LAPD until a
similar high post or political seat
"becomes available. But to do so, his
. office must not be tarnished.
, · To that end, CISCOP is a valua­
. 'ble ally. Rose has coached tlie
.group's leaders to tackle the beat­
!ing incident with this phrase:
I
i "What happened to Rodney King
.:~as a horrible incident, but let's
'not castigate Chief Gates and the
·'-entire Police Department for it."
I . At Rose's. insistance, that mesl
~sage is driven home in the first
I ~paragraph of every CISCOP press ,
~release, and in the first words
''spoken by CISCOP leaders at pub-
7'lic gatherings. . .
1 · 'Before Rose arrived to give them
sHa theme and focus," the people
who would become CISCOP lead­
~~rs were workipg independently to
9-rum up support for Gates in the
· ·~eek after ~qg's beating.
Estrada was circulating a "support
petition" in the parking lot of a
San Fernando Valley mall near her
home. Cholakian was handing out
"back our men in blue" cards at
,power lunches and Chaml;>er of
Commerce meetings. Nimitz was
pleading with the Police Depart~
ment to give her an opportunity to
take its case public.
Rose, who was already recording .
every. sound bite he could on the
King case, wrote a letter to Gates.
"If there is anything I can. do to
. help,'!· he wrote, "don't hesitate to
'call." . ·
On Mar~h 19, Rose said he· received
a call from Gates' security
aide, Offic.er Eugene Arreola, "who
took me up on the offer.''
In an interview, Arreola d~nieq
that Gates personally sought Rose
out, although he ~cknowledged
discussirig the possibility of working
with him.
The Police Department's community
relations office introduced
Rose to Estrada, Cholakian, Nimitz
and others actively $Upporting the