Accountability in the LAPD

I am appalled by Eric Rose’s willful and malicious misunderstanding of the goals of those of us who are calling for reform in the Los Angeles Police Department (“What the Anti-Gates Crowd Wants,” Commentary, May 16).

In an attempt to act as “spin doctor,” Rose deliberately distorts the issue. The issue is not patronage jobs in the LAPD. The issue is accountability. Currently, the chief of police is accountable to no one. No individual should be given that kind of power in Los Angeles. Not the mayor, not a City Council member, not the chief of police.

Rose has chosen not to listen to the hundreds of people who have come forward to tell of their experiences and their fears about excessive force in the LAPD. Or, worse, he has chosen to discount them as members of “special interest groups.” Their “special interest” is the reform of an outdated and confused City Charter which has thrown this city into bitter disarray by failing to make the LAPD accountable to a clear authority.

The Police Department should be clearly accountable to civilian authority. Instead, we have political maneuvering in City Hall and Parker Center.

In order to function effectively, the Police Department must have effective leadership and the support of the community it serves.

I agree with Rose that we need to heal the wounds of this city. But wounds do not heal unless they are treated. We need the strong medicine of charter reform.

COUNCILMAN MICHAEL WOO

Los Angeles