officers - The Black Vault

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