Police Panel to Confront Issue of Gates’ Fate : Beating: Commission schedules closed-door meeting today to wrestle with what to do about embattled chief.

With the political repercussions of the Rodney G. King affair reaching a peak, the Los Angeles Police Commission has scheduled a special closed-door meeting today to wrestle with what to do about embattled Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Although members have declined to discuss in detail their agenda, Commission Vice President Melanie Lomax said Wednesday that the panel must move ahead “in the very near future” in deciding what disciplinary action, if any, to take against Gates.

Mayor Tom Bradley called Tuesday for Gates to resign, but the chief’s refusal to step down has shifted the debate to the civilian Police Commission, where sources said panel members could chose from a range of options, including placing Gates on a temporary leave of absence or firing him.

“I’m simply not going to accept it (discipline),” Gates said on ABC’s Nightline program late Wednesday night. “I don’t think they have a basis for it.”

Gates said he would not disobey any order by the commission, but added that he would vigorously appeal any disciplinary finding.

Lomax and her colleagues might choose to wait for the return of Stanley Sheinbaum, a Westside civil libertarian who was confirmed Wednesday by the City Council, on a 10-2 vote, as a new member of the commission. Sheinbaum left on a European trip Tuesday afternoon and Cmdr. Frank Piersol, the commission liaison, said today’s meeting may be postponed.

The council’s confirmation hearing was marked by sometimes sharp criticism of Sheinbaum for his affiliation over the years with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been outspoken in its call for Gates’ removal. Some council members also blasted Bradley for publicly urging Gates to step down.

As debate raged in the council over Sheinbaum’s appointment, and whether the Police Commission should remove Gates, the chief was marshaling his forces to fight for his job.

Jay Grodin, a private attorney personally hired by Gates to defend him against any disciplinary moves by the commission, warned Wednesday that the panel must have proof that Gates has been derelict in his duties before attempting to oust him from the post he has held for 13 years.

“Melanie Lomax and the other police commissioners ought to review the City Charter, the government code and a lot of case law first,” Grodin said.

“There’s nothing they can do right now. Even a temporary leave has to be for some cause, and the cause cannot be nebulous. There have to be charges that are brought and the fact that someone says there is a crisis in the LAPD is not enough.”

Lomax, however, said she believed the commission could reach a decision on whether it wants to discipline Gates without waiting for the outcome of a series of independent investigations now under way into the LAPD. She also noted that the commission, which still has one vacancy left, should not wait for Bradley to appoint a fifth member before taking action.

“I do believe the commission has the responsibility to address this question seriously in the very near future,” she said. “I think that it is bad for the department, the city and the chief for this crisis to continue ad nauseam without any clear resolution.”

Attempts to reach two other commission members, President Daniel Garcia and Samuel Williams, were unsuccessful Wednesday.

But on Tuesday, after hearing Bradley’s call for Gates to resign, Garcia said he could not comment on the matter “because we are in the peculiar position of maybe having to someday” discipline or remove the chief.

“I still think that the decision to retire is obviously a personal one for the chief,” he added.

Last week, Garcia told The Times that the commission should do nothing about Gates until after its investigative staff has thoroughly reviewed the March 3 police beating of King. The beating was captured on videotape, and has led to a national furor over police brutality.

Sources said that Williams, a longtime Bradley ally who has served the longest on the commission, has in the last two weeks become convinced that Gates must go.

“He’s had a tough time with it,” said one source, who asked not to be identified, “but he just can’t watch that videotape anymore without having the same reaction that the problem is systemic.”

Another source said that Bradley’s speech Tuesday calling on Gates to resign makes it easier for Williams to vote against the chief. “He’ll go along with it, now that Mayor Bradley is out of the closet.”

At Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Sheinbaum faced more than an hour of sometimes pointed questions, particularly from Gates’ supporters, who said they were concerned about rumors sweeping the council chamber that Gates might be placed on administrative leave.

Sheinbaum said he knew nothing of such rumors, and added that he has an open mind about the chief’s performance. “There is a civil libertarian process called due process,” Sheinbaum said. “We are concerned with due process for anybody and everybody.”

Several council members said they would not support a move to place the chief on leave while investigations are continuing into the King beating and the Police Department.

“If the Police Commission would do something like that, it would be a wimp-out,” said Councilwoman Joy Picus, who backs Gates.

Sheinbaum said he would not be in a position to make a “rush to judgment.” He flew to London later in the day for a 10-day conference on the economy of Eastern Europe.

Most of the council members said they trust Sheinbaum to view Gates impartially.

“He has always been known to be an objective and fair servant of this community,” said Councilman Richard Alatorre.

“You will find (Sheinbaum’s) record is one of fairness and balance,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. “Because of his abiding commitment to equal protection, he would probably be one of the chief’s best judges.”

Sheinbaum, 70, a former University of California regent, is regarded as an elder statesman of liberal politics in Los Angeles. An economist, he has been active in a number of liberal causes over the years. He helped found People for the American Way, a group that promotes freedom of speech. He has been a major fund-raiser for several Democratic Party candidates.

In 1988, Sheinbaum created controversy in some Jewish circles when he encouraged the United States to negotiate with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat. Sheinbaum, who is Jewish, said he was merely trying to resolve longstanding differences between Israel and the PLO.

Councilman Hal Bernson, who joined Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores in voting against Sheinbaum’s appointment, said he will attempt to disqualify the new commissioner from voting on Gates’ performance.

“If we are going to have a railroad job . . . to lynch the chief, then I cannot support it,” Bernson told Sheinbaum.

Bernson cited Sheinbaum’s past affiliation with the ACLU as the reason he cannot be an impartial judge of Gates’ performance.

Under the City Charter, the city attorney’s office determines whether members of boards and commissions should be barred from votes because of a conflict of interest. Such rulings must be made within 10 days of a request by a council member.

Assistant City Atty. John Haggerty, legal adviser to the City Council, said such a request has not yet been made official and that it is too early to say how the city attorney’s office might rule.

Flores said she voted against Sheinbaum because she is concerned that the Police Commission would be slanted against Gates.

Sheinbaum resigned as chairman emeritus of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California two days before his appointment was announced by Bradley.

“This nonsense that ACLU people are anti-police is just that, nonsense,” he told the City Council. “I want this post. I sent word to the mayor that I was interested even before I knew of the Rodney King beating.

“Just as many of you have asked me to keep an open mind about Daryl Gates, I am asking you to do the same about me.”

In another development Wednesday, Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a candidate for the 8th District City Council seat, contended that at least five officers involved in the “39th and Dalton” police abuse case have been promoted rather than disciplined.

The case involves destruction at a series of apartments during a 1988 police raid at 39th Street and Dalton Avenue.

Ridley-Thomas said he has begun apprising Police Commission members of his information as a possible reason for disciplining Gates.

“Beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt, this provides the kind of evidence that Daryl Gates has not effectively managed the department,” said Ridley-Thomas.

However, Stephen Yagman, a private attorney who is suing the Police Department over the 39th and Dalton case, said that at least 15 officers have told him in depositions that they were disciplined, and that another 10 officers have said they have discipline cases pending.

George Aliano, president of the Police Protective League, said he did not know the status of any disciplinary action against the officers, but he said not all may have been directly involved.

“Politicians, when they’re running for office, are going to get involved in what they think is going to get them votes,” Aliano said of the claims by Ridley-Thomas. “What’s dangerous are things that are incomplete and what they don’t have full information on.”

Times staff writers Leslie Berger, Paul Feldman and Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this story.