LAPD Panel Finds Officer Guilty of 1 of 4 Accusations

Los Angeles Police Officer Kelly (Clickety) Klatt--accused of attending a hot tub party with a young woman while on duty--was found guilty of one of four departmental charges against him Friday, and a board of rights recommended that he be suspended for 10 days without pay.

The board convicted Klatt, 34, of “converting an on-duty contact into a personal relationship.” Had Klatt been found guilty of the other charges, he could have been dismissed from the force.

The suspension is subject to the approval of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Gates can confirm the penalty or reduce it, but cannot increase it.

Capt. Jack Smith, who chaired the three-member board, said evidence showed that after Klatt had stopped Laura Ann Bisho, 24, for a traffic infraction without giving her a ticket, he telephoned her on two occasions and met with her once.

Smith said testimony from two other women “suggested a pattern of conduct” by Klatt in which he was “attempting to form inappropriate relationships” with women he stopped for traffic infractions.

The board cleared Klatt of charges that he had sexual relations with Bisho, who told the board a tale of sexual encounters in parks, hot tubs and hotels with Klatt and a host of other law enforcement officers from various Southland cities.

On Thursday, the board cleared Klatt’s partner, John Nichols, of four similar charges.

The defense showed during six days of hearings that Bisho had failed a series of lie detector tests, had twice been convicted of harassing Nichols and his family, had been picked up by the LAPD as an attempted suicide and had admitted making false entries in her diaries, which were key prosecution exhibits.

Klatt and Nichols first made news last year when they established an LAPD benchmark: In a six-hour period near the USC campus, they each handed out 61 jaywalking tickets. Then, last January, Klatt attracted further attention: He purchased his own radar gun and ticketed 435 traffic violators during a 19-day work period, more than any other Los Angeles police officer.

But Klatt sounded Friday as though he would like a little less attention from now on.

“The last months have been a nightmare,” he said after the board handed down its recommendations. “I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad I can get on with my life.”