officers - The Black Vault
officers - The Black Vault
officers - The Black Vault
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his advisers behind closed doors.<br />
His aides later brought in take-out<br />
food, and t)le chief ate :half a tuna<br />
sandwich. "He's lost his appetite,"<br />
one aide explained.<br />
Gates remained inside his office<br />
through most of the afterhoon,<br />
stepping briefly outside once or<br />
twice. He finally left headquarters<br />
late in the afternoon, walking out<br />
~ith two satchels of personal items<br />
under his arm.<br />
Asked if he would turn in his<br />
badge and gun, he answered testi<br />
_Iy: "Absolutely not. I'm. a peace<br />
. officer of the State of California."<br />
- He also gave a thumbs-up 13ign<br />
as he left and vowed: "I'll be back."<br />
• r' Police spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon<br />
. said Dotson will move into<br />
Gates' office only if "he finds he<br />
needs to because of certain ceremonial<br />
things that can be handled<br />
in that ceremonial setting."<br />
In explaining its decision totemporarily<br />
remove Gates, the Police<br />
Commission cited provision No.<br />
3-840.10 in the. LAPD's Manage<br />
·ment Rules and Procedures. <strong>The</strong><br />
section, titled "Inactive Duty,"<br />
states:<br />
-"When it is contrary to the best<br />
interest of the Department for<br />
employees to continue their regular<br />
duties while awaiting investigation<br />
.or formal disciplinary ac<br />
~on, . they may be assigned to<br />
inacti:ve duty by their acting commander,<br />
commanding· officer; or<br />
the commanding officer, Internal<br />
Affairs Division."<br />
Gates, as chief of police, reports<br />
Qirectly to the commissiqn.<br />
·-<strong>The</strong> commission was responding<br />
to public outcries following the<br />
beating of King, a 25-year•old<br />
black parolee from Altadena who<br />
was repeatedly struck by police<br />
<strong>officers</strong> after a car chase in the San<br />
Fernando Valley. Four Foothill<br />
Division <strong>officers</strong> are now awaiting<br />
trial on charges that include assault.<br />
Unknown to the <strong>officers</strong>, the<br />
arrest was captured on videotape<br />
by an amateur .cameraman, and its<br />
impact after being televised worldwide<br />
has caused a furor over police<br />
brutality.<br />
·- Gates has come under fire for his<br />
contentions that the King beating<br />
was an "aberration." <strong>The</strong>re have<br />
also been revelations that some of<br />
the white <strong>officers</strong> involved in the<br />
~ating made racial slurs shortly<br />
before the incident.<br />
:<strong>The</strong>re also have been widesi>read<br />
allegations from various<br />
local groups, many of them in the<br />
minority communities, that th'e<br />
LAPD under Gates' leadership has<br />
spawned a climate in which <strong>officers</strong><br />
routinely abuse . blacks and<br />
Latinos.<br />
- hree me~bers of the ~ommission<br />
took part in Thursday's<br />
T<br />
decision tp place Gates on leave.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y included commission President<br />
Daniel Garcia, Lomax and<br />
Samuel Williams. Absent was<br />
Stanley Sheinbaum, who. 'Was<br />
sworn in Wednesday and im~ediately<br />
left on a European tr1l). 'A<br />
fifth. member has yet to be appoint- ·<br />
ed<br />
.. ! '<br />
-'Garcia, who was elected pr~sident<br />
on Tuesday, said the move<br />
should not be seen as punishment<br />
of 'Gates. He said the commission<br />
has not determined that Gates is<br />
guilty of any misconduct in his<br />
performance of duties or that ·he<br />
has failed to provi~e<br />
adequate<br />
leadership since the March 3 beating<br />
of King.<br />
. "We emphasize that this action<br />
is not punitive in nature, and<br />
results in no loss of pay or benefits<br />
for Chief Gates," Ga;cia said ..<br />
• '~More importantly, it should not<br />
be taken by the public as reflecting<br />
any conclusion as to whether the<br />
·chief should be charged ~d disci:.<br />
plined in the future:"<br />
But, Garcia added, the' commission<br />
relieved Gates of his duties "in<br />
light of recent and serioUs allegations<br />
of mismanagement and neglect<br />
of duty by the ch~~f ()f po}ice,"<br />
He said the commission ·hopes<br />
that Gates' leave will not last<br />
longer than 60 days, when the ·<br />
. commission's investigation should<br />
~ be completed. He said that if Gates<br />
is not proven derelict in his duties,<br />
he will be returned to his job.<br />
"<strong>The</strong> next 6o days will provide a<br />
~ period for calm, reflective ·action,''<br />
he said, "and it will provide the<br />
opportu~ity for ~ to make sure we<br />
don't have anything that is duplicative"<br />
of what .. happened in the.<br />
King beating.<br />
Garcia .also deflected ·criticism<br />
from community groups that wanted<br />
Gates fired. He said the commis<br />
. :Sian debated a wide range of.alter<br />
·natives in how to handle the<br />
.situation. ·<br />
"-1 don't think there is any option<br />
J we didn't consider," he said.<br />
But he disagreed ~th Gates'<br />
• 'feelings that :he had been "disgraced."<br />
. .<br />
"That was certainly ·not· our<br />
intent," .the commission president<br />
.said. "It was not our intention in<br />
any way to do that to him. We are<br />
not issuing a statement here that<br />
~ he is guilty in any way." ·<br />
. He and Lomax said they believe<br />
·their action is defensible in court,<br />
. ·and that if Gates files suit, a judge<br />
: will·side with the commission. ·<br />
<strong>The</strong> dosed-door l!ession was<br />
!;marked with r~ncor as Gates<br />
·threatened to sue each commis<br />
.· sioner personally and made a last-<br />
1 minute attempt to have Garcia<br />
· disqualifi~d from judging him.<br />
.Gates cited a 6-month-old LAPD<br />
• investigation into whether Garcia<br />
1<br />
-improperly raised campaign funds<br />
from developers for Bradley in ·<br />
1: 1986 when Garcia chaired the city's<br />
1 .Planning Commission, according to<br />
sources close to the commission.<br />
'"This was pretty unpleasant to<br />
• day," Garcia said.<br />
Grodin, however, gave a different<br />
·version. "Chief Gates never<br />
raised his voice; he was calm and<br />
cool. That's why he's been chief so<br />
long."<br />
Another Gates attorney, Harry<br />
G. Melkonian, described the meeting<br />
this way:·<br />
"<strong>The</strong> chief was called in with his<br />
.counsel for [the commission members]<br />
to present their proposal.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y listened to him, and then<br />
: handed him a written note that he<br />
leave. .<br />
"In short, it was a farce, a<br />
conviction without a trial. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
were no allegations of mismanagement.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were just doing it, and<br />
they were not ·giving any allegations<br />
or specifications about why."<br />
' After Gates left the commission's<br />
closed meeting room, he<br />
was hugged by one aide, and then<br />
surrounded by other Police Department<br />
employees. <strong>The</strong>ll:.:P..otson<br />
entered the commission's room and<br />
was told of his appointment as<br />
acting chief.<br />
Afterward, he defended Gates,<br />
thanking him for promoting hiJll<br />
; over the years and wishing 'rum<br />
} good luck. He also said his primacy.<br />
objective will be to heal the damage<br />
caused to the department's<br />
reputation by the King beating.<br />
I . "I .have a commitment to the<br />
people of this .city to provide tl).e<br />
• best police service they can get,"<br />
he said. "That's what we want to<br />
do. So I ask for their help in this<br />
very difficult period."<br />
Dotson refused to comment. on<br />
~ the King incident, saying he did not<br />
want to jeopardize the trial of the<br />
-four <strong>officers</strong>. Asked if he agreed<br />
with Gates that the King beating<br />
was an aberration, he said:<br />
''This is a model Police Depart<br />
. ment. But like any large organiza<br />
• tion, there are going to be some<br />
' unfortunate incidents from ,time to<br />
': .. time."<br />
' l l<br />
<strong>The</strong> Politics<br />
1 At City Hall, various council<br />
' members were quickly designing<br />
· alternative plans on how to deal<br />
i ~with the crisis. .<br />
• Some were devising legal ma<br />
''""nvr" tn trv to f:l;:iVE> Gates. ·