officers - The Black Vault

~------- - --
.. 3 -·
F\J;3EJQ.::(Rev. 5·8·81)
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Gates Gets Hero's
Welcome on His
Return to Work\~
By ERIC MALNIC
TIMES STAFF WRITER
In a scene reminiscent of Gen. Douglas
MacArthur's triumphant return to the
Philippines during World War II, embat:.
tled Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F.
Cates returned to his office at Parker
Center on Tuesday.
Eschewing the back door ·he. usually
uses to reach his office, Gates made a far
grander entrance, pulling up to th~ front
of police headquarters to be greeted by
about 150 cheering supporters, about 50
scrambling members of the news media
and a handful of jeering critics.
Ironically, it was the critics who got in ·
the first word, shouting "Gates must go!':
as the chief stepped out of his big, red
sedan.
But those shouts were quickly
drowned out by the chanting ~f his
supporters, who clapped and yelled,
"Gates must stay!"
Smiling broadly as he shook t~~ h!ipds
and hugged the shoulders of dozens of
the police officers and department employees
who lined the walk in. front of.
Parker Center, the cpief took almost five
minutes to make his way into the build- .
ing. .· .
"It's nice to be back," he said.'i~~;·'
·appreciate this .very much. These are
.wonderful people. We're a family." .
Gates' return was made possible when
Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian
issued ·a temporary restraining order on
Monday that blocked the Police Commis­
·sion's decision last week to place the.,
-chief on a 60-day leave. ··
The restraining order had been sought
by the City Council and attorneys repre-­
senting the chief. It had been opposed by
.-.the commission, whi~h was appointed by
.!Mayor Tom Bradley.
The issue of Gates' future has divided
the city -and its officials-since
the videotaped police beating of
Altadena resident Rodney G. King
on March 3. Gates called the beating
an isolate& incident and an
"aberration," but critics said it was
symptomatic of continuing police
brutality and demanded· Gates' resignation.·
·
Tuesday's event was cq!?reographed
almost as caref~ · as
· MacArthur's meticulously c'hrOnj,. ~ ·
: cled return to the island nation. he
had been driven from 2~ years
earlier by invading Japanese forces.
. By 8 a.m. Tuesday, news crews
began gathering near the San Pedro
Street gate at the back of police
headquarters. The chief usually
drives quickly through the gate
and up .to a back door that is
off-limits to the news media, and
.. there was concern among reporters
and photographers that they
might miss their opportunity._
Not to worry.
About 8:15,. one of the chief's
aides sidled up to a cameraman to
~ announce, in a stage whisper, that
Gates would be coming in the front
way.
The news crews dashed around
to the front of the building, but
there was plenty of time.
Workers were still putting up
four huge bows made or blue
ribbon 'that were said to show
support for police ' officers-"our
men and women in blue." Three of
the bows were tied around columns
at the main entrance and one
dangled irom the roof on a long
rope.
By 9:15, a sizable crowd of supporters,
many of them sporting
"blue ribbon" lapel pins, had gath- ·
ered to form two lines-one down
each side of the 100-foot walk
leading 'from the entrance to the ·
sidewalk. Virtually all of them
were police officers or department
employees who had gotten the
word that the chief was on his way.
"I'm here to welcome him
.home," said Cheryl Henderson, one
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Date: WED APRIL 10 1
1991
Edition: METRO SECTION 1
PAGE 1
Title:GATES GETS HERO' S WELCO.t-1E
ON HIS RETURN TO WORK
Character:
ClasC:ification: 80 - 33 B
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
Indexing:
SEARCHED \ . INDEXED /
SERIAUZEO _ .J-" FILED. l :;;;=;;"
APR 1 5 1991
FBI -
lOS ANGELES I
VJM
of the employees. "I respect and
admire him, and I don't think he's
done anything wrong."
"Let's talk about 13 years of the
best administrator any police de­
. partment has ever had," said Police
. Officer Wayne Zippi. "Gates is
coming back. where he belongs."
At 9:30, with everyone in -place,
Gates' car arrived.
His · remarks were largely
drowned out by the competing
·chants; but through the din, the
chief said he was surprised by the
turnout and didn't know until then
why aides had told him to delay his
arrival for a few minutes.
Asked if he felt vindicate~by the
judge's -restraining order, Gates
said: "I don't know if there was any
. vindication necessary .... I just
think [the judge's ruling] was the
right one. I don't have any hard
- feelings toward anyone."
Gates said he wo~ld
like the
opportunity to "sit down" with the
' mayor to r~solv.e their differences.
Interrupted by the jeers of the
protesters, the chief said: "I think a
lot of people have forgotten about
· Rodney King. I don't think these
people really care about· Rodney
. King at all."
As he headed up the walk between
the lines of cheering supporters,
the crowd closed in around
him and the beaming chief paused
repeatedly to shake proffered
hands, return eager hugs and ac-
. knowledge the people who were
· welcoming him.
1 i J, _
t_fl(~ -LA~ 1\CfCI (f~'D-:~.~~
FBI/DOJ