After ‘No-Lose’ Election, Bratton Promises to Stay

Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa was exhausted, his voice so hoarse he could barely talk, but by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday he was sitting in the office of Police Chief William J. Bratton -- a man who was hired by his opponent.

That Villaraigosa’s first order of business was an hourlong private meeting with Bratton surprised no one. Rumors had been circulating in New York that the popular police chief might bolt from the West Coast and run for mayor there.

So the question on many minds, and a main topic of the meeting: Is Bratton staying?

The answer was yes. Villaraigosa asked Bratton to remain as chief. Not only did Bratton say yes, he told the mayor-elect that he might want to be considered for a second term when his first expires in late 2007.

“We share a common vision for the LAPD,” Villaraigosa said after the meeting, standing outside police headquarters downtown. “Based on the fact that we need more police officers, better technology and support for community-based police efforts to build trust.”

The relationship between the two men may prove crucial to Villaraigosa’s tenure as mayor, as well as Bratton’s reputation as a turnaround specialist. It’s an alliance filled with potential for success and conflict.

Flashpoints ahead include Villaraigosa’s choices for the Police Commission; the current commission has been largely deferential to Bratton’s policies. Also unclear is how influential Councilman Bernard C. Parks will be in the new administration’s approach to law enforcement. Parks was Bratton’s predecessor -- and has since been a frequent department critic. After losing in the runoff, he became a Villaraigosa supporter.

Then there is the question about whether Villaraigosa can succeed where Hahn repeatedly failed: Substantially increasing the size of the LAPD.

If Villaraigosa succeeds in expanding the force and pushing a reform agenda, Bratton could get the chance to fundamentally reshape policing in Los Angeles. With a wave of retirements beginning in 2007, Bratton sees what he calls a “ground zero” opportunity to promote one-third of the department’s top commanders, creating a new generation of like-minded officers who could carry his legacy forward.

Bratton relishes chances to promise steep crime reduction, saying in February that if he had a force of 12,500 -- about 3,400 more officers than he has now -- he could reduce crime by 50% and dismantle gangs.

Though Hahn could not deliver significantly more officers, his low-key style seemed to mesh with the more outgoing Bratton.

With Hahn, Bratton said, he had “an excellent relationship, probably the best working relationship I’ve ever had with any mayor.” The easy rapport between the two men was aided by the fact that Hahn was unfazed, and perhaps even relieved, when the spotlight was on his popular police chief.

The dynamic was in sharp contrast to Bratton’s derailed relationship with former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani -- who pushed Bratton out as police commissioner despite his delivery of deep reductions in crime.

Giuliani and Bratton, both fixtures on the New York social scene, competed for media attention and credit for the decline in crime. Their partnership disintegrated not long after Time magazine put Bratton on its cover, touting the chief as a key to “winning the war against crime.”

Villaraigosa undoubtedly brings more flash to the office than the famously reserved Hahn. Still, Bratton said Wednesday that he believed they share the same goals and have styles that will be complementary, not acrimonious.

“He’s somebody that’s not concerned about having strong people around him,” Bratton said after meeting with Villaraigosa. “As strong a leader as he believes he is, he recognizes no one person can do it alone. I’m no wallflower. There is a recognition that his administration and the city benefits by having people in leadership who have national and international recognition and respect.”

At the same time, Villaraigosa has shown signs that he will take a more active role in police policy decision-making. Like past mayors, Villaraigosa is expected to make his own appointments to the Police Commission, and could choose people more likely to challenge Bratton than the current board members.

Bratton outlined what he saw as Hahn’s strengths in dealings with the Police Department, and they are telling.

“He never interfered in the internal workings of the department on discipline cases, never sought to inject his opinion into a disciplinary decision,” Bratton said. “Same on promotions. He has never sought to deter promotions. He’s been a really hands-off executive.”

A key upcoming test for Villaraigosa and Bratton will probably be how the city revises department disciplinary procedures -- a system the council and commission have been told to change by federal overseers who are monitoring the department under the last year of an agreement stemming from the Rampart scandal.

Bratton said Wednesday of Villaraigosa’s position on police discipline: “I have no sense of where he is on that but he now owns that issue in several ways. This is the fifth year of the consent decree, the make or break year.”

Also in play is how much Villaraigosa’s win deflates the influence of the Los Angeles Police Protective League -- which spent more than $160,000 backing Hahn. Police union President Bob Baker called Villaraigosa a “friend to the union” in a statement.

But Baker also cautioned that: “in the recent past, we have seen elected officials cower before perceived public opinion when an officer uses force.”

Hahn was closely aligned with the police union, granting the rank-and-file a popular, but controversial, flexible workweek. When Parks was chief, he had vehemently resisted the schedule, known as 3/12, for giving the option of working three 12-hour shifts. Parks now says it should be revoked.

Villaraigosa had opposed the flexible work schedule in his 2000 campaign but did not make the schedule an issue this time. Parks said Wednesday that he would continue to question the short workweek, regardless of whether Villaraigosa takes up the matter. Before endorsing Villaraigosa, Parks said they spoke about many issues facing the city.

“My interest is in using the 38 years I’ve had in the Police Department to give the best advice I have, not only in law enforcement but many areas of management,” Parks said. “If the new mayor chooses not to adopt them, that’s his choice. I feel absolutely an obligation when something appears not to be working right to say so.”

With a history of tension between the incoming mayor and the police union, Bratton increasingly may be called on to be more of an intermediary than he was under Hahn. At the same time, any rift between Villaraigosa and the police union may give department officials more room to push for policy changes that may not be popular with the rank-and-file.

On the other hand, Bratton is betting Villaraigosa has the political juice that Hahn lacked to significantly expand the police force.

“He’s coming from the City Council, where he’s developed a very good relationship with the majority of colleagues,” Bratton said. “He’s starting with a potential mandate and it goes across ethnic and racial lines.”

Bratton said adding officers would be an important measure of success for the new mayor.

“A major portion of his campaign was run on the issue of public safety. He understands that he has to deliver,” Bratton said of Villaraigosa’s commitment to add at least 1,200 officers to the current force of about 9,100.

Councilman Jack Weiss, a Villaraigosa advisor, said “the mayor-elect is committed to police reform. It’s one element of his public safety strategy. He literally visits every homicide scene in his district. He knows the terrible toll of gang violence on the city.”

Bratton and Villaraigosa were brought together in 2003 after the newly elected councilman asked to be notified of all the homicides in his district. What began as a professional relationship forged at least in part at crime scenes in the neighborhoods east and north of downtown evolved into a friendship. The men occasionally dine out together with their wives and frequently attend the same parties.

During the campaign, however, Bratton said he “danced with the one who brought me,” appearing alongside Hahn at official functions and emerging as a centerpiece of the mayor’s bid to keep his job.

That reality had the potential to create an awkward relationship between Bratton and his new boss. But even during a bitter campaign, Villaraigosa and Bratton never had harsh words. Bratton showed loyalty to Hahn without alienating Villaraigosa. Conversely, Villaraigosa often praised Bratton, whom he called “the best big city police chief in the country” and said he wanted to get him the resources that Hahn had failed to deliver.

Because both candidates stressed public safety and plans to expand the department, Bratton said he saw the election as “a no-lose for the Police Department.”

Times staff writers Richard Winton and Daniel Hernandez contributed to this report.