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stead, Gates has fought back politically
and deepened the rift in the
community. ·
"Chief Gates has portrayed the
public's outrage over the beating as
a personal attack on himself and
the department," Bradley said.
"That is not the case. And to sug­
.gest otherwise does a disservice to
the LAPD and to the people of Los
Angeles."
Bradley expressed disappoint-:
ment that Gates has not acted, despite
evidence that the public has
lost confidence in the chief.
"I simply will not stand by as
our city splits apart," he said. "We
must come together. We must heal.
"As mayor, I have reluctantly
concluded that I can no longer wait
for Daryl Gates to do what is best
Mayor Tom Bradley called on Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to resign Tuesday,
culminating two weeks of statements suggesting that Gates should step
down without calling for his resignation outright. Here are some previous
statements:
TUESDAY, MARCH 19: "I don't want to see this become a Bradley-Gates battle.
This is a matter·for the chief to decide. He has his own constituency. But a
retirement by Chief Gates would help in the healing process."
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20: "I did not and I have not yet called for the chief to
resign. I am saying that the only way we can start this healing process is for
him to remove himself."
THURSDAY, MARCH 21: "I think that for us to have a healing process it is going
• to be necessary that the chief recognize his role in the matter. But only he
has the authority and the ability to say, 'I retire.' "
FRIDAY, MARCH 22: "I suspect that if he remains, there will continue to·be the
· ferocity of demands we've seen for his retirement. I think it'~ going to be very
11nlikely that anything constructive can take place with regard to healing the
· · city until the storm has settled with regard to Chief Gates.'' ·
·.. MONDAY, MARCH 25: Asked if he was disappointed that Gates had refused to
, . step down, the mayor replied: "He thinks by remaining, he can restore the
prestige and reputation of the department. There are many who disagree and
I'm one of those."
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27: Responding to Gates' 10·point plan to restore ·confi·
dence in the LAPD; "My only concern is that it seems to me that these are
things that were called for a long time ago, and why they have not been
done, I don't know." . .
TUESDAY, Aprll2: "The chief has only one choice. He must step aside. He must
allow the winds of change to blow across the LAPD, to refresh Its officers,
and to restore the department's vigor and reputation. Chief Ga~es,.now is the
time for you to do the right thing - for your officers, for your department, for
the 'public you serve.''
.:-.for the LAPD," Bradley said. "I
can no longer count on him to act
in the best interests of all of Los
Angeles."
, At a short news conference after
.. tiis .televised address, Bradley said
~:.his decision to call for Gates to quit
· also was influenced py disclosures
· that officers involved in the beating
made racist comments on a police
·communications system on the
night ofthe beating.
Those remark~, Bradley said,
were evidence that the King incident
was not an ''aberration" as
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•• __ _:1
''The communications between
the officers in those separate cars
pretty clearly put aside any
thoughts that it might have been an
aberration," Bradley said. ''There
were racist comments. There was a
jocular mood ahd attitude among
those officers. There were incidents
that took place prior to the Rodney
King beating so it ·became very
clear it was not.just an aberration.
It was not just a single incident and
I fear that the problem lies much
deeper. That's the reason so many
actions have been taken recently
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the chief to resign."
.Four offi~ers have been indicted
on criminal charges in the beating
of King, 25, following a Lake
View Terrace traffic stop March 3.
The Los Angeles County grand jury
is reviewing possible charges
against up to 17 other officers who
witnessed the beating but took no
action.
Gates has steadfastly maintained
that he will not quit because he has
done nothing wrong.
At one point during his press
conference, Gates read a quote
from a report by City Attorney
James Hahn in 1989 that sharply
criticized Bradley's financial dealings,
but found no evidence of
wrongdoing.
"No one has ever questioned my
ethics,'" Gates said. "No one has
ever questioned my integrity, my
honesty. No one." .
Bradley said the chief also re-·
·buffed his call to quit during their
meeting Tuesday morning.
"He said, 'Mayor I think you're
wrong and I will not resign.' "
Bradley 5aid.
· The mayor noted that 'the City
Charter giv:es the authority to fire
the chief to the Police Commission.
But Bradley said he can take a
strong stand in hopes of convincing
Gates to quit. .
"Under the Charter system I do
not have the legal authority to remove
him. I can use moral ·suasion.
That is what I did today,"
Bradley said.
•
Bradley's call for Gates to resign
was criticized by some City Council
members who said it will widen the
division of community.
"I don't believe calling for the
chief's resignation heals the city,"
.said Councilwoman Joy Picus. "I
think it only polarizes the city."
·· Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky,
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