Without Power, Use Persuasion : Government: The mayors of other big cities speak out on the tough calls of leadership and their experiences with police.

Unfortunately, the power that many mayors have is much less than the problems and crises we’re asked to resolve. Given such a lack of express authority, I’ve tried a hands-on approach to crises, talking to everyone, listening even to those who are shouting and less than rational, and finally formulating a plan of action that may not be the most popular, but is calculated to bring about a wholesale change in how we do business. If you have the pulse of the community, you’re going to prevail and the matter’s going to get done right. If you don’t you may have to resign at some point or just not run for reelection.

We have one quirk in Miami that is similar to Los Angeles. We have an ordinance that the police chief, though appointed by the mayor, can only be fired for cause--dereliction of duty, public drunkenness, that sort of thing. The chief is appointee of the mayor, but he’s been given latitude to the point of his position being actually more secure than our city manager, who can be fired by the city commission. The mayor should have the ability to fire or change the chief of police.

Chief of police is a position that no one is entitled to, or invested with, except in a very fragile sort of trusteeship. I don’t believe heads should roll every time something goes wrong--both of our cities have a lot of police officers, any one of whom can do something improper. We’ve certainly had our share of cases of excessive violence or even deadly violence. But if you don’t get satisfaction from the top people you have to change them, or the voters will change you. I’m a strong believer in making the person at the top responsible for his department.

Ideally, when there’s a problem, I hear all sides of an argument and swiftly make a personal decision that respond to the crisis at hand. With limited power, what I have to do is exert influence, using public opinion, community activists and the municipal unions, if they agree on the issue. If these entities are opposed to the plan I have formulated, I typically make it public anyhow, assuming that in time it will become reality.