Police Board Won’t Probe Gates Furor : Law enforcement: The chief’s remark about shooting casual drug users, which triggered outrage, was not meant literally, commissioners say.

The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday declined to open an investigation into a remark by Chief Daryl F. Gates that casual drug users should be shot, determining that his statement was not meant to be taken literally and instead was “simply a graphic figure of speech.”

“As president of the commission, I did not for one minute--not for one minute--ever construe his remarks in a literal sense,” said board Chairman Robert M. Talcott. “He did not mean to go out and shoot these people. But he did want to underscore the real concerns law enforcement has with respect to casual drug users.”

Talcott added, “we’re not going to be taking any action against the chief of police.”

The commission’s decision came in response to a request by Councilman Robert Farrell, who questioned the appropriateness of Gates’ remark. In testimony Sept. 5 before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, Gates said, “The casual drug user ought to be taken out and shot.”

Talcott, interviewed after the commission’s regular weekly meeting Tuesday, said Gates’ comments were taken out of context. He said the chief was only trying to draw attention to the fact that casual drug users perpetuate the drug problem by increasing the demand for illegal drugs.

But the chief’s controversial statement triggered a storm of outrage from community leaders and even prompted a weekend protest by a group of avowed casual pot smokers in Venice.

Gates did not explain his remark to the commission Tuesday. But he was met by a round of applause from panel members, who congratulated him on his 41st anniversary with the LAPD. Later, the commission met in private and released a two-page letter to Farrell at City Hall, explaining why it would not investigate Gates.

The letter, signed by Talcott, makes it clear that the commission does not believe a formal investigation into Gates’ conduct is necessary.

“The phrase he used in reference to casual drug users was simply a graphic figure of speech expressed in an effort to punctuate the chief’s frustration over the anonymity and apparent lack of attention being afforded to the hundreds of thousands of Americans in the country who quietly feed the international drug cartels, the major traffickers and the street-level dealers,” according to the letter.

“It is equally apparent that the chief never implied nor suggested a literal interpretation of his comment.”

The letter added that Gates is “keenly aware that he, as well as any other police administrator, does not have the legal authority nor the moral right to go beyond the very laws that they have pledged to uphold” and shoot casual drug users.

Farrell said he was “really disappointed” at the commission’s decision not to review the matter. But he vowed to push the panel to reconsider.

“I’m going to be back in touch with President Talcott,” he said. “I want an inquiry and I want to be notified so I can show up and make my presentation before the commission. This issue needs to be discussed.”

Farrell said he had hoped the commission would investigate Gates’ comments, just as the police brass would review outrageous public comments from any police officer.

“I’m hearing a range of sentiment from my constituents,” Farrell said. “Like, ‘There goes Daryl Gates again.’ They’re wondering what they can expect from the officers out in the street if you have this kind of conduct in the chief’s office.”

Farrell also heard from Gates himself, in the form of a letter he received Tuesday from the chief defending his right to free speech. Gates attached a copy of the Bill of Rights to the letter to Farrell.

“I don’t like casual drug users,” Gates told Farrell. “And I hope I have made that abundantly clear.”