Police Board Upholds Dismissal

A police review board today upheld the firing of a black Los Angeles Police Dept. lieutenant for lying during a molestation investigation, provoking an angry response from the man’s lawyer who charged that racism was at the root of the dismissal.

“This is a travesty,” said Lawrence Labovitz, attorney for former vice Lt. Ronald Williams. “This all-white board . . . is nothing but a bunch of 14-karat bigots.” The police Board of Rights said Williams, a 20-year veteran fired by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates last summer, had lied to investigators and the board about allegations that he had shown sexually explicit videos to two teen-age girls.