officers - The Black Vault

ffi~ commission by immediately set­
·.tling Gates' lawsuit and allowing him
"Ls>"teturn or refusing to pay legal bills
: f?r ·some private attorneys the panel
::"tla"$ sought for the court proceedings;
--F..erraro said.
~:_ '!t'.he commission's action came two
: ~:ays after Bradley called for Gates'
~ r~.signation.
~-~But the chief's refusal to step down
·~et the stage for the vote Thursday
·!>Y·: the mayoral-appointed commis­
:aicin to place Gates on "home assign­
;~ent" until investigations of the vid­
~eotaped police beating of King and
ptlier allegations of mismanagement
~ehd breach of duty by the chief could
h.~ concluded.
.. ~·-Councilman Joel Wachs accused
. J3!adley and his panel of bending city
.policy in an attempt to drive his
~1~~ingtime
critic from office.
·~'."Not since Richard Nixon has any­
~6ue employed the ends justifying the
';)!leans as we have seen in this case,"
• Wachs said.
·,:::",1 am really troubled by the way
.th~ngs are moving and the way things
~are happening," Councilman Zev
Y aroslavsky said. "There is a rush to
~ju~,l'gment here."
~ :Sut the mayor, meeting with re­
P~.ters at Los Angeles International
A:irport after a trip to Sacramento,
·~id the commission's action was
:1~~ely and necessary.
:r.~ovides 'time out'
.,, -~~he reassignment of Chief Gates
:~itpply provides a 'time out' until the
-~.riv.estigation reaches a fair and
~~dy conclusion," Bradley said. "It
.isjny hope that today's Police Com­
:~ission action will give us all time to
~bridge the differences that have
.gi'own between us since the Rodney
~ing incident."
~-~ommission President Dan Garcia
and panel members Melanie Lomax
$It~ Sam Williams met with reporters
:after their closed-session meeting,
:b:\lt refused to spell out any specific
charges against Gates.
::· ~'We emphasize this action is not
punitive in nature and results in no ·
loss of pay or benefits for Chief
Gates," Garcia said.
"More importantly, it should not
be taken by the public as reflecting
any conclusion as to whether the
chief should be charged or disciplined
in the future." ·
Newly appointed Commissioner
Stanley Sheinbaum was out of town
and did not participate in the vote.
The mayor has allowed the fifth position
to remain open for more than a
month.
The 64-year-old chief earns
$168,000 a year but he said he took
· no joy in being ·able to continue to
earn the large salary while staying off
the job .
Feels 'humiliation'
"I feel a great deal of humiliation
over it," Gates said as he left his
office known as the "corner pocket"
in Parker Center police headquarters.
But as he stepped into the elevator,
the chief said, "I'll be back, you betcha."
Harry Melkonian, one of two private
attorneys hired by the chief,
said he would not immediately seek a
temporary restraining order Monday
to have the chief returned to office.
Instead, Melkonian said, he would
seek a full hearing as soon as possible
in which Bradley, the commissioners
and all other parties involved in the
"plot" against Gates would be required
to testify.
The commission chose Assistant
Chief David Dotson, 57, as interim
head of the department while Gates
remains on leave. Dotson is a 33-year
LAPD veteran.
Sen. Ed Davis, R-Valencia, a former
LAPD ·Chief who often battled
the city's political leaders, said the
move against Gates was unfortunate
because it shifts the focus from the
King beati.Dg to the mayor, Police
Commission and police chief and
leaves a power vacuum at a time
strong leadership is needed to restore
confidence in the department. ·
"A police department, of all agencies,
need~ leadership, and now it's
going to be unclear who's the leader.
A brand new leader can't go in the
first day and come up with all solutions,"
Davis said.
As word spread of the commission's
action, police officers and police supporters
expressed anger and disbelief
that such an action could be taken
without a full public hearing on specific
charges.
"It almost feels like an officer getting
killed. It is real depressing," said
Officer Tim Wunderlich.
Some officers began wearing black
tape over their badges in honor of
the chief and others began talking
about a sick-out or work slowdown
next week.
Joy in black community
But members of the black community
and civil rights groups who have
been demanding Gates ouster said
the chief's leave was a first step in
overhauling a department they
claimed is plagued by racism and
brutality.
"It is a very good day in Los Angeles,"
said Danny Bakewell, president
of the Brotherhood Crusade. "I think
that what the commission did was
what we have been calling on them to
do for the last month. But the story
is not over, the chief has not yet been
f'tred."
· Ramona Ripston, head of the
Southern. California chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union,
praised the panel.
"I think that it's a sincere effort to
mend the damage that has been done
to the reputation of our city and our
police force," she said.
Although Bradley and the commissioners
said they had hoped that
sending Gates home would help the
healing process after the King beating,
a political firestorm soon was
raging throughout the city.
I
Contributing to this report was
staff writer Donna Littlejohn.