Police Union Board Rejects Bradley Recall Proposal : Politics: Members, elected officials exert pressure. They cite polarization of the city over King beating.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League’s Board of Directors, bowing to pressure from its members and local elected officials, voted unanimously Wednesday against backing a proposed recall of Mayor Tom Bradley.

The action came six days after the league’s president declared that the union, which represents 8,100 rank-and-file city police officers, was preparing to throw its political influence, and $1.5-million war chest, behind such a recall effort planned by Marvin Feldman of La Canada Flintridge.

But on Wednesday, League President Lt. George Aliano said he decided to retract his recall threat after a heated meeting with others on the nine-member board, some of whom were angry that he had made such an announcement without their authority.

“I took a real beating from the directors,” said Aliano, 50, after the private four-hour session at the union’s headquarters in the heart of the garment district. “I apologized for not letting them in on what I was doing.”

Board member Sgt. Frank Grimes, however, said the leadership rejected the proposal because it did not want to contribute to the turmoil that has polarized the city.

“We decided not to . . . take any action whatsoever to disrupt the functions of the Police Commission and the City Council,” Grimes said. “We are removing ourselves from the political arena entirely.”

Aliano’s problems with his colleagues began a week ago when, without board authorization, he invited the union’s rank-and-file members to attend five private meetings organized to determine what actions they could take in the wake of the March 3 beating of motorist Rodney G. King by Los Angeles police officers.

A paltry 654 officers attended the meetings held in auditoriums in Los Angeles and Studio City, which cost the union $2,500 to rent, a union director said.

Nonetheless, just two days after Bradley and Police Chief Daryl F. Gates declared a public truce, Aliano announced that a “majority” of officers had lost confidence in the mayor and hoped the union would back a recall campaign.

That statement, coupled with Aliano’s intention to join forces with Feldman, who does not have a proven track record for recall efforts, riled board members. They viewed Aliano’s actions as a drain on funds and manpower at a time when the union is plagued by internal problems.

The league’s funds are already stretched by more than $600,000 in legal fees charged by lawyers it hired to defend officers currently on trial in the trashing of residences on Dalton Street in South-Central Los Angeles, and the King affair.

“Legal fees are eating us alive,” said union director Cliff Ruff, who is in charge of legal affairs.

Beyond that, he said, “A recall effort would polarize the community and officers alike.

“If not successful, it would have a negative effect on labor and salary negotiations. Don’t forget the mayor signs off on those things.”

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, who helped orchestrate earlier efforts to have Gates removed from his job, did not suggest that Bradley would try to retaliate against the union.

A number of City Council members, including some who rely on the police union for campaign contributions, agreed with Ruff that a recall effort would be ill-advised and divisive.

“If they had asked my opinion I would have told them not to do it,” City Councilwoman Joy Picus said. “I put it in the same category as Mayor Bradley asking Chief Gates to resign--it’s polarizing and bad for the city.”

Meanwhile, black, Latino, Asian and women factions within the union have expressed increased frustrations with a board that some claim is insensitive to minority concerns and too forceful in its defense of Gates in the wake of the King incident.

There has never been a black or female officer on the 19-year-old union’s board of directors.

“I don’t want my Police Department turned into a political machine,” said Sgt. Emilio Perez, president of the Latin American Law Enforcement Assn.

“I don’t think it is right that we get so involved in politics,” added a sergeant assigned to the department’s 77th Street Division who asked that his name not be used. “We work for the mayor, the chief the City Council and the Police Commission.”

Other black officers complained that politics took attention away from the issue of excessive force and the need to improve police relations with the citizens of the communities served.

In his own defense, Aliano suggested that his controversial actions were largely posturing aimed at unnerving the mayor, and mending fences with Gates--a traditional union foe over such issues as discipline and mandatory drug testing, who might now be expected to pay closer attention to union complaints and concerns.

On Wednesday, the union president suggested that those goals had been achieved, despite the board’s decision.

“We’re not going to join any recall effort,” Aliano said. “It’s like the Persian Gulf--we liberated Kuwait and now we’re pulling out.”

On Monday, Aliano met with Police Commission President Dan Garcia and discussed the possibility of having a union representative sit in on the commission’s executive sessions.

In an interview, Garcia said it was a “good idea.”

The commission is the last step in the grievance process for officers with problems related to discipline and pay. Executive meetings are attended only by the five commissioners, the chief, and representatives from the mayor’s office and the city attorney’s office.

Asked if he feared that Gates would protest such a change, Aliano said: “He’s in no position to argue right now.”

But Fabiani wondered if Aliano’s plan would work.

“Aliano may be currying the favor of the chief of police in what is a difficult time for Gates,” Fabiani said. “The union has constantly complained of wage levels and working conditions and it will be interesting to see if the chief changes his posture on these issues.”