officers - The Black Vault

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Next, Bradley's office forced out
a member of the Civil Service
Commission-which ultimately·
could decide Gates' fate with the
city-and brought in labor lawyer
Larry Drasin, a longtime supporter
of the mayor. :
After that, Bradley's office made
overtures to council members,
hoping to persuade them to come
out publicly against Gates.
Finally, the mayor's office es~
tablished the so-called Christopher
Commission to run an independent
investigation into police yge,. of
force, perhaps setting the stage for
the Police Commission to ask ~e
chief to step aside pend~ng tlie
probe's outcome.
Councilman Michael Woo-the
only council member to . call for
Gates' resignation-said he has
conferred with Bradley's office on
the Gates issue in the past. But he
insisted Tuesday that he was not
consulted about Bradley's call for
Gates to resign.
Even so, Woo seemed to agree
that the stage was now set for
Police Commission action.
"I think the Police Commission is
moving in the direction . . . of
considering the remqval of the
chief," Woo said. "I think the
mayor wants to make his position
clear in advance of the Police'
Commission action. It's appropriate
· [for the commission] to look to him
for leadership."
Woo, who'is a potential mayoral
candidate, made Easter visits to
churches in the black community,
where outrage over the King beating
and demands for Gates' resignation
have been particularly
strong. But he dismissed any link
between those visits and the timing
of the announcement by the mayor,
who has not ruled out the
possibility of seeking a sixth term.
City Hall sources said they believed
there was virtually no political
risk for Bradley in. calling for
Gates to step down at this time.
A Times ·poll in late March found f
that almost one of three Los Angeles
residents wanted Gates to
.. , resign immediately, and anot~er
one of three wanted Gates to resign
if inquiries find wrongdoing by his
officers .in the King case.
About half the respondents said
that Bradley was doing what he .
should in handling the controver- :.;.J
sy, while 34% thought he wa.s' :.
· ·. being too lenient . and only 5%
· thought he was too tough. A:mong · .
blacks 46% thought Bradley was ·
b~ing too lenient with Gates, while
only 5% thought the _mayo.r was
being too tough.
Political observers say Bradley's
move Tuesday would deflect criticism
that he has been too indecisive
during the crisis. ·
"I commend him (\nd give ·him
· high marks for taking this decisive
' step," said Los Angeles Urba?.
· League President Joh~. M~ck.
. .· . There has been growmg Imp a­
tience among the mayor's support­
; ers, .particularly in . [the blac~)
community."
. · Bradley's call for Gates' resignation
could help candidates supported
by Bradley in neXt ~eek'~ Ci~y
Council elections, especially ·m the
heavily black inner-city districts.
In the 9th District, for example,
Bradley has endorsed Rita Walters
for' the seat held by the late Gilbert
w. Lindsay, and some of her opponi:mts
have. criticized the mayor's
reluctance to demand Gates' ouster.
City Councilman Richard Ala:- · -
torre, a-Bradley ally who is seeking
reelection in East Los Angeles,
came close to following Bradley's
lead Tuesday night "1 have serio]ls
concerns as to ·whether. the chief
-can continue to lead under the
present circumstances,"· saitl :Alatorre,
who heads the council panel ·
that oversees Gates' department.
. Longtime political consultant
Joe Cerrell, of Cerrell Associates,
described Bradley's ac;tion by saying,
"It shOWfl he'~ trying to
lead. . . . The problem is, it would
seem a little inconsistent since he
just appointed a commission to look /
· into the matter. . . . Why d?es.n't/
he wait to see what the commiSSI~ .
has to say? ·. -·
"I know he's under pressure to
do this, I'd say primarily from the
black community and the Jiberals:."
I
nitial reaction to Bradley's annot,mcement
in the black com­
. munity was positive. The Rev. Cecil
'L. Murray of First African Method­
. ist Episcopal Churcl:i said "I think
· that it was inevitable, ~-ecessary
and good. I think the mayor . . . has
· come to the conclusion that there is
·no other" solution. · .
"J'm sure now that h~ •ha~-, demanded
the police chiets' resignation
he will follow through on his
demand," Murray· said, ':because a
sizable portion of his constituency
feels that their well-being,is .at
stake."
· '
··The Rev. Frank Higgins of
/ Trueway 'Baptist Church criticized
t Bradley for taking so long to can·
for Gates' removal and described
anti-Gates sentiment in the black
. community as "snowballing."
"In some regards we appreciate
Bradley's decision" to call for ·
Gat~s· resignation, said Higgins,
president of the·400-member Baptist
Ministers Conference of Los
Angeles and Southern California.
"But he could have done something
sooner. We need a radical change.
of leadership to address this situation.
Bradley said he couldn't fire
[Gates]. Well, he should have fired
him.anyway."
Council President John Ferraro
said he will continue .. t~ support
Gates despite Bradley's:speech and
expects other elected officials to do
-the same ..
· Gates supporter Eric Rose, a
consultant for the chief's eXploratory
~ampaign for governor in
1988, accused Bradley of continuing
a ''political war [that] 'wm be
more unpopular than Vietnam."
With Tuesday's speech, Rose said,
Bradley has "tossed a hand grenade
into a city that was just
beginning to heal." ·
Times staff writers Glenn F. Bunting,
Paul Feldman and John L. Mitchell
contributed to this story.·.