A Mayor Needs the Tools for the Job : Government: The mayors of other big cities speak out on the tough calls of leadership and their experiences with police.

In Atlanta in 1973, there were more civilians killed by police than in any other city in the country. When I was sworn in for my first term as mayor in 1974, I actively involved myself in stopping police brutality. It was the No. 1 issue in the black community in Atlanta all of my boyhood and much of my life.

Mayor Bradley had it much tougher than I did, because at least we had the power to amend the city charter without going to the voters, and I was able to get rid of the chief of police who was causing the problems.

Then we declared a policy and we made it known to everybody. We made sure that every police officer received it, read it, signed it and gave it back to us. It stated that any officer accused of police brutality would not automatically be assumed to be guilty in a departmental hearing and would be entitled to a fair hearing. But any officer found guilty of brutality in any degree, even a first offense, would be automatically discharged, with no rehiring, ever. Then we would moved to prosecute the discharged officer. This applied to everybody, evenhandedly, regardless of race. Within 18 months, not only was there no police brutality that we could find, there were not even allegations of brutality.

If the people elect a mayor, they are saying, “I want you to run the city.” And I think that a mayor--I’m not just commenting on Los Angeles, I mean anywhere--needs the tools to be able to carry out his job.

If the mayor does not do right, the people of any city have the ability to vote him out of office. If he does right, the people have the ability to keep him. But to send any mayor into battle without proper armor and the proper equipment is doing the city a disservice.

I’ll tell you why we have police brutality. The speed of the boss is the speed of the crew, and the only way to stop police brutality is from the top down. Every manager has to be on the case. You have to fire people on first offense, no exceptions--and you have to back them when they’re right. If you find the boss winking at wrongdoing, it will continue and be widespread.

It is not fair to the majority of officers, who work hard and do a good job, that a few rotten apples spoil the barrel. Then the public is not able to know who is doing right and who is doing wrong.

Any American mayor must also educate the people on what is right, and what is not right, what the rules are, especially in a time of crisis. The most important thing is to decide in your heart that what you are doing is right, then damn the torpedoes.