Gates Strongly Defends SIS, Says Matter Is Closed

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, speaking to the City Council in closed session, vigorously defended his department’s Special Investigations Section on Wednesday, saying that the surveillance squad adheres to the LAPD’s “strict policy of protecting the public.”

At the same time, Gates condemned a report in The Times that described how the SIS often waits to watch dangerous criminals commit violent crimes before arresting them.

After the one-hour meeting, Gates told reporters that the council is satisfied that “the SIS has conducted themselves appropriately and is not putting the public in jeopardy.”

As far as he is concerned, Gates said, the matter is closed.

Most Seem Satisfied

While most council members said after the session that they are satisfied by Gates’ explanation of the SIS, a few expressed concern about the 19-man unit, but indicated without elaborating that they do not plan to raise further questions about it.

Police Commission President Robert L. Talcott, meanwhile, said the commission is continuing its inquiry of the SIS at the behest of Mayor Tom Bradley. Both Talcott and Gates met with Bradley on Tuesday to update him on that inquiry.

Bradley, a police veteran who said at the time that he was unaware of the SIS, ordered the commission to investigate after The Times reported in September that SIS detectives have overlooked opportunities to prevent career criminals from committing armed robberies and burglaries, many of which have ended in the perpetrators being shot.

Police reports show that in many instances, SIS detectives have stood by watching as crime victims were traumatized emotionally and, in some instances, physically hurt by suspects who could have been arrested beforehand on lesser charges.

Police officials acknowledge that SIS detectives sometimes wait to watch major crimes because the criminals who commit them can be more easily prosecuted and sent to prison for longer periods. In some instances, the detectives maintain surveillance until a crime occurs even when the suspect is known to be wanted on arrest warrants issued by other agencies, the unit’s captain has said.

Council members agreed to hold Wednesday’s meeting in executive session after police officials assured them they could speak more freely on SIS tactics if their comments were not aired publicly. But the council’s inner-office speaker system was left on, apparently inadvertently, and The Times monitored the closed session from the newspaper’s office at City Hall.

Council’s Questions

The council did not specifically address tactics nor was any sensitive information on that subject offered by Gates or other police officials at the session.

Instead, council members spent most of the meeting asking questions about the unit’s shooting and arrest records and whether SIS guidelines were different from those of the rest of the Police Department.

Under California law, elected bodies cannot legally meet in closed session unless the meeting is called to specifically discuss property negotiations, personnel matters, national security or pending lawsuits.

There is a suit pending against the SIS, which was filed Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court by a 6-year-old boy whose bank-robbing father was killed by detectives after they watched him commit a robbery. However, that lawsuit was filed well after the council announced that it planned to meet in closed session to discuss the unit.

In Wednesday’s meeting, SIS Capt. Dennis Conte told the council that his unit has conducted 200 surveillances over the last three years, made 98 arrests and has been involved in six shootings.

“When you consider the number of surveillances, number of arrests and number of shootings, we think it is quite admirable,” he said.

Gates urged council members to publicly “make the statement that you are satisfied, that you inquired into SIS, (and that) you are satisfied that our goal is to protect people first, build a case secondly. And that’s what we’re doing. We have a long history . . . of doing that.”

Gates described The Times’ depiction of the SIS as “erroneous.”

Bernson’s Viewpoint

Councilman Hal Bernson, a long-time ally of the Police Department, was most vocal in his support of the unit.

“We are not police officers; we have to entrust (the job) to those who have professional training,” Bernson told fellow council members. “The unit has a purpose . . . I do trust our department.”

However, Councilwoman Gloria Molina expressed concern that the city might be held liable if a citizen were to be hurt in a crime as SIS detectives watched. She said she feared that the officers may be “a part of the crime” by watching without attempting to intercede.

In response to Molina, Deputy City Atty. Linda K. Lefkowitz cited case law that has held that a police officer has no legal duty to protect an individual from criminal harm.