Mayor Fires Back Over Crime

As Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks opened a new line of attack Wednesday on Mayor James K. Hahn’s record on crime, the mayor fired back, accusing Parks of having failed as chief of the LAPD.

Hahn, who ousted Parks from the city’s top crime-fighting job 2 1/2 years ago, said at a news conference outside City Hall that Parks’ “tenure as police chief was a failure.”

The mayor pointedly noted an extensive exodus of police officers and the fact that the city’s crime rate increased during Parks’ stewardship of the department.

Hahn’s decision to replace Parks in early 2002 drew sharp criticism from leaders of the African American community, many of whom had supported Hahn’s election the previous year.

After his ouster, Parks entered the political arena, winning election to the City Council from a South Los Angeles district heavily impacted by crime. He was one of the first major candidates to announce his intention to challenge Hahn’s bid for a second term next March. Parks’ presence in the race could undermine the mayor’s traditional support among black voters.

On Tuesday, Parks drew attention to the growing number of homicides in the city this year. The former chief said he would hold hearings before the council’s Public Safety Committee on the department’s strategies for addressing it.

Parks expanded his critique of Hahn’s record Wednesday to include the Police Department’s work schedule, in which many officers are allowed to work three 12-hour days.

“As long as officers work three days a week, the community works five and criminals work seven, the city of Los Angeles will have a crime problem,” Parks said. He blamed Hahn for instituting the so-called 3/12 schedule for political reasons, and said he would eliminate it “in the first hour of the first day ... of my administration.”

Police Chief William J. Bratton, whom Hahn named to replace Parks, said last week that his goal of reducing homicides by 20% this year would not be met. The number of murders in the city through Saturday was up 4.2% from the same period a year ago. The toll as of Sept. 4 was 368, compared with 353 last year.

Overall violent crime, including rapes, robberies and assaults, however, was down 15.2% through Saturday.

Parks’ criticism of the police workweek drew immediate response from both Hahn and the police union, which made the shorter work schedule a major reason for endorsing Hahn.

Hahn said he implemented the flexible work schedule because he believed it would help reduce crime.

“We’re not going to return to the failed policies of the past,” the mayor said. “We’re going to keep going with what works. We believe in community policing. He doesn’t.”

Bob Baker, president of the city’s Police Protective League, said in a statement that “the only thing worse than having too many chefs in the kitchen is having forcibly deposed ex-police chiefs trying to dictate current Police Department policy.”

Baker added that “the reason why Bernard Parks is no longer police chief is because he lacked the vision and the leadership skills to be chief.”

Several other candidates in the mayoral race declined to take a stand on Parks’ position on the abbreviated workweek.

“I just don’t know,” said former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, adding that he had just heard of the idea Wednesday morning.

“It’s premature,” said state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley). He added, however, that he would be willing to study the idea.

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa had no immediate comment on Parks’ proposal, but in the 2001 mayoral runoff against Hahn, he had opposed the abbreviated police workweek.