A Police Panel With Promise : Mayor Bradley puts together the new Christopher Commission

The Christopher Commission, the impressive independent citizens panel selected to examine the structure and operation of the Los Angeles Police Department, has a tough mission. It must investigate a virtually closed department and come up with recommendations that discourage police brutality as well as restore public confidence in the LAPD. And it must do this against the backdrop of another commission put together by LAPD Chief Daryl Gates--and some ongoing criminal investigations.

Even so, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley has assembled a first-rate panel, provided independent financing to protect the commission from local politics and conferred mayoral subpoena powers to the commission. The sole note of controversy is likely to be the appointment of Mickey Kantor, the well-connected lawyer who has defended the mayor during investigations into Bradley’s personal finances.

The Christopher Commission will leave the criminal probes to the ongoing federal and local investigations stemming from the videotaped beating of Rodney King. And its mandate is larger than that of the Arguelles Commission, created by Gates to probe the King incident.

To get to the root of the larger police brutality problem, Warren Christopher, the nationally known attorney who will chair the commission, will depend on seven public-minded commissioners. They will also get help from some advisers, including recently retired LAPD Asst. Police Chief Jesse A. Brewer and Patrick V. Murphy, former New York police commissioner. Murphy became NYPD head shortly after the Knapp Commission, on which the Christopher panel is modelled, began its probe.

In assembling such talent, the mayor has performed a valuable service. Given the proliferation of probes, the only question now is whether Los Angeles really needs the Arguelles Commission. Already there’s talk of folding it into the Christopher Commission. The idea is worth pursuing.