Quiet Meeting Reflects Panel’s Demeanor

The first public meeting of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department was much like the commission itself: quiet, thoughtful, reserved and formal--perhaps even a little bit staid.

There were no angry outbursts Wednesday. Gone were the crowds of raucous protesters waving signs and shouting for the ouster of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. The speakers--most of them leaders of community organizations who had been invited to state their views--kept to their allotted time of 20 minutes each. Even the television news cameramen were polite.

Attendance was sparse. Only about a third of the 196 seats in the auditorium of the upscale Security Pacific Bank building in downtown Los Angeles were filled, and most of those filling them were dressed in business suits--staff lawyers, journalists and representatives of invited groups.

And no wonder, said Audrey Quarles, a retired schoolteacher who was among the few members of the general public in attendance: “It’s quiet today because they don’t have the people in there (who are) really affected. This is completely out of their area. And those people, they can’t afford $2 every 20 minutes to park.”

Said Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade, an African-American community group: “You have something down in the Security Pacific Bank. What kind of representation do you expect? This is not the kind of place to do it.”

Indeed, the corporate elegance of the bank tower on Hope Street, with its polished brass rails, its trendy cappuccino bar and cushioned swivel auditorium seats, seemed a world apart from the minority communities most affected by the police beating of Rodney G. King. While residents of those communities routinely pack Police Commission meetings, creating made-for-television drama, their absence Wednesday made the atmosphere somewhat like that in a corporate boardroom.

According to Bakewell, the slim showing hardly means that anger over the King beating has subsided. “It’s very high and you will see that demonstrated next Tuesday at the Police Commission,” he said. “People will mobilize when we ask them to mobilize.”

Others agreed. “When you are in the communities, (the anger) is still high,” said Mary Thompson, field deputy to state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles). “It hasn’t gone anywhere.”

The blue-ribbon panel--also known as the Christopher Commission after its chairman, Warren Christopher--is likely to get a sense of that anger during the three nighttime public hearings it has scheduled for later this month. One is in East Los Angeles, another in the Mid-City area and one in Pacoima, just a few blocks from where the King beating took place March 3.

Though quiet, Wednesday’s meeting was not devoid of protest. Cheryl Wossenou, a Baldwin Hills resident who frequently attends anti-Gates rallies, showed up in her usual garb: a jacket covered with photographs of her son and daughter, who served in the Persian Gulf War, and pins bearing anti-Gates slogans.

And three members of La Resistencia, a national immigrants rights organization, sat in the middle of the auditorium holding signs that read: “Throw the Gestapo Chief Out.” Shortly after the group sat down, a security guard approached one of its members, Keith James, and asked him to put the sign down.

“No,” James said. “This is a public hearing.”

“We understand that,” the guard replied, “but it’s private property and we’re asking you to put the poster down. If you don’t, we’ll ask you to leave the premises.”

The argument continued, in hushed tones, until the commission’s general counsel, John Spiegel, approached the guard and instructed him to allow the sign to remain. “It’s a free country,” Spiegel said later.

Throughout the hearing, the 10 commissioners sat stone-faced. They asked questions on occasion but gave little indication of how they viewed each of more than a dozen speakers--including one man who complained he had been victimized by a criminal conspiracy in which the police were allowing drug manufacturers to spray citizens with lethal chemicals.

Christopher, however, did break his silence when Bakewell--echoing the earlier comments of Ramona Ripston, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California--told the panel that he viewed it with distrust and suspicion.

“We hope that you will be able to overcome your suspicions about our commission,” Christopher said. “We hope that our work will enable you to overcome those suspicions, and we ask that you keep an open mind.”