Shake-Up by LAPD Continues at Foothill : Personnel: Black captain to replace white in charge of patrol officers in the area where Rodney G. King was beaten.

In more fallout from the Rodney G. King incident, a black police captain will replace the white captain now in charge of patrol officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, the patrol area where the black Altadena motorist was beaten last month.

The two captains could switch assignments as early as today as part of an ongoing effort “to win back the confidence of the people, especially in the Foothill area,” Assistant Chief Robert Vernon said Monday.

“The community has been vocal about appreciating some minorities in management positions,” Vernon said. “That’s one of many factors, but it’s not entirely because he’s black.”

Incoming Capt. Paul Jefferson, a 22-year department veteran, brings to the Foothill job about five years’ experience in training recruits at the Police Academy, another factor in his selection, Vernon said.

In return, Capt. John Mutz, a 17-year veteran, will take over Jefferson’s assignment in the Van Nuys Division. Mutz, who spent much of his career in the department’s Wilshire Division, had been on the job in Foothill about six weeks when King was arrested and beaten March 3.

According to one police source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Foothill’s commanding officer, Capt. Tim McBride, was slated to be transferred out as a result of the King beating but was saved at the last minute because of his good relations with the community. Instead, the source said, police officials decided that Mutz would be replaced by Jefferson.

“For the most part, Capt. McBride has an outstanding rapport with the community,” the police source said. “I guess you hold the guy on top responsible. Gates doesn’t want to be held responsible but he was going to hold McBride responsible for what happened in Foothill.”

McBride, who will remain the ranking officer in the division, could not be reached for comment.

In confirming the shift of Mutz--the highest-ranking Foothill officer to be transferred so far in a divisionwide shake-up--Vernon said: “I don’t want this in any way to be interpreted as punishing Mutz, because he was just starting to get his feet wet.”

The move of Mutz follows those of more than a dozen officers from the Foothill Division--including two lieutenants, at least two sergeants, and 10 patrol officers--in the wake of the King beating. In at least one case, a black lieutenant replaced a white lieutenant.

In addition, five detectives were recently notified that they will be transferred from the Pacoima-based patrol area to make room for replacements with “special talents and abilities,” Vernon said.

“This is part of our long-range scheme of having better (racial) balance throughout the city and placing people with skills and abilities to match the needs of the community,” Vernon said.

In other developments Monday, a judge ruled that the now-famous videotape of King’s beating may be sent to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., where technicians will copy the tape and attempt to enhance that copy’s sound quality. The original will be left intact, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson.

“Right now, if you listen to it, you can maybe hear some voices but it’s not real clear,” Yochelson said. “There’s some helicopter noise in the background and we’re curious to see if anything can be done with that.”

Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins also ruled that prosecutors may obtain handwriting samples from two of the Foothill officers indicted in King’s beating, Yochelson said. The officers, Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Office Laurence M. Powell, are accused of writing false reports in addition to charges of using excessive force.

In another ruling, Kamins denied television network ABC access to grand jury exhibits. Yochelson said the network wanted to use the evidence for an episode of “Prime Time Live.”

Meanwhile, in the state Court of Appeal, lawyers involved in the legal battle between Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and the Board of Police Commissioners continued to file arguments Monday. The city attorney’s office wants the appeals court to let stand a lower-court ruling that Gates can remain in office at least until an April 25 court hearing on his status.