officers - The Black Vault

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"v"'"
P'0-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
•(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
, '
Bradley Names·
Defense Lawyer
to Police Board
By GLENN F. BUNTING
TIMES STAFF WRITER
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Moving quickly in an attempt to restore
public confidence in his beleaguered
Police Commission, Mayor Tom
Bradley named criminal defense attorney
Michael R. Yamaki on Tuesday to fill the
fifth and final seat on the citizen panel.
The appointment of Yamaki, a past
president of the Japanese-American Bar
Assn., came one day after a Superior
Court judge temporarily set aside last
week's Police Commission order to put
Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on a 60-day
leave of absence.
City Council members have calleq on
the mayor this week to overhaul the
commission. They said in interviews
Tuesday that changes are necessary to
bring some balance and integrity to the
civilian commission that oversees the
Police Department.
"I believe that, a~ presently constituted,
the Police-Commission wants to
make Daryl Gates a scapegoat,"
said Councilwoman Joy Picus, a
~upporter of the chief.
~;:'In a prepared statement, Bradley
"ru\uded to the importance of Yamaki's
appointment as the Police
Commission begins its investigation
of Gates in the wake of the
!Olice beating of black motorist
Rodney G. King on March 3.
·.. ···u is an extraordinary time for
i.he city, our Police Department
· :qnd our Police Commission,'' the
:mayor said. "I am confident Mi­
~hael Yamaki has the personal
:£ortitude to consider objectively
Jind fairly the decisions that face
ithe commission in the coming
months."
:C· At the forefront of those deci­
~ons will be the commission's in­
~estigation of Gates. Several City
·L::ouncil members have accused
S3radley and his aides of using their
~litical influence with the mayo:'s
ilppointees on the Police Commts­
..sion to oust Gates. Bradley has
.~enied any political meddling with
!the commission decision to" put
·.Gates on leave.
~~ Yamaki said he had no opinion
~n whether Gates should resign.
r' "I don't see this as just a battle
!between the mayor and the chief,"
ftamaki said. "The central issue is
!t-'hether the beatings are institu­