officers - The Black Vault

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the chief's disciplining.
A
gainst that backdrop, some of
Bradley's strongest supporters
in the business community began
last week to publicly -and, sources
said, in private conversations with
the mayor-question the mayor's·
political-strategy regarding Gates.
For instance, Richard Riordan, a
prominent Los Angeles attorney
and longtime Bradley stalwart,
said in an interview that the mayor
has "got to back off .... I think he
cannot go ahead [with a plan to
seek the chief's removal]. I think
he would be just [putting] himself
deeper and deeper into a hole." .
Such comments sent Bradley a
strong signal.
· "It became dangerous," said one
source. " . . . He was hearing from
people who .disagreed with the
manner in which he was dividing.
the city."
Also, a Times Poll late last week
found that 6 out of 10 Los Angeles
residents believed that in calling
, for Gates to resign, the mayor had
.sought to further his political aspirations.
The poll also found that
Bradley's approval rating had
slipped.somewhat.
Ferraro, who had voted with a
council majority to effectively
override Gates' removal, said the
first suggestion of a conciliatory
meeting between the mayor and
the police chief ~me Monday after
he bumped into Deputy Mayor
Fabiani in a haliway.
Ferraro and Fabiani had "detailed·
conversations" about a po~sible
summit and compromises, a
knowledgeable source said.
Later Monday, Bradley phoned
Ferraro at home.
"John, I hear you'd like to be in a
meeting," the mayor said, according
to Ferraro. "Well, can you set
one up?"
Ferraro said he called Gates at
home and the mayor and both sides
agreed to a 4 p.m. meeting the next
day.
Bradley and Gates sat on separate
tan couches in Ferrara's office.
The council president said he
pulled up a chair in the middle with
Gates on his left and Bradley·on his
right. No one else was present.
Ferraro began with an appeal to
bothmen. . '
"Let's see what we can do to be
, positive about this," he recalled
saying. "As long as we keep at-
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tacking each other, the media loves\
that . and that doesn't solve any
problems."
Bradley suggested that Gates set
a firm retirement date, perhaps as
soon as his 65th birthday in August.
The chief wanted Bradley to
agree to drop the Police Commission;s
action to put him on leave.
It quickly became clear that
neither side would budge. ·
· As the discussion wore on, Ferraro
told the mayor that he should
tell the city: "Daryl Gates is the
chief of police. We got som'e problems
in the Police Department.
Nobody knows the department
better. I'm for him 100% and I
know he can -correct them."
' Bradley never went along, Fer~
rarosaid.
Instead, the three officials settled
on a few paragraphs scrawled
on scratch paper by Ferraro, basically
agreeing to tone down their
divisive remarks. Then they appeared
on television at 6 p.m.
B
radley was seen by some as the
clear loser. The image of the ·
mayor appearing at a news conference
with Gates and Ferraro suggested
a "total capitulation," said
one council member· who has as-
. sumed a low profile ·~n the Gates
controversy but who ·voted with
the majority to settle the lawsuit.
The council member spoKe on
c61,1dition of anonymiW.
Added Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky:
"The mayor· looked like
someone who wanted to put this
behind him:" ·
·The announcement stunn~
community leaders who had be~n
in contact with Bradley's office and
.had appiauded his public call for
Gates to resign-and it made clear
that removing himself from· the
fray might not be a simple task.
"It was ·shocking to me," said
Ramona Ripston, executive director'
or' the American Civil Liberties
Union of Southern California. "I
. don't understand why he did
it. . . . It. signals he is not feeling
as certain about the course of this
struggle as he did a couple of
weeks ago. So, he is hedging his
bets." ·