Police Panel to Hear Private Testimony by Bradley, Hahn, Reiner : King beating: All three have been criticized for not doing enough to curb use of excessive force.

Mayor Tom Bradley, City Atty. James K. Hahn and Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner are scheduled to testify in private Thursday before the Christopher Commission, the citizens panel that is conducting a top-to-bottom review of the Los Angeles Police Department in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating, a commission spokesman confirmed.

In addition, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates is scheduled to testify in private June 14, commission spokesman Bryce Nelson said Tuesday.

Aides to Bradley, Hahn and Reiner declined to comment on what their bosses might tell the 10-member panel, formally known as the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department.

Bradley and Gates have battled for most of the last two months over whether the chief should step down. Gates has flatly refused, but said last week that he would resign if the commission found that his leadership had contributed to the March 3 beating of King by police officers.

At five public meetings, the commission has heard witnesses contend that excessive use of force is common in the Police Department, particularly in African-American and Latino neighborhoods. In addition, some have said each elected official in the city--including Bradley--are to blame for ignoring the problems.

Others have criticized Reiner’s office for not prosecuting more cases of police misconduct and Hahn’s office for not becoming more alarmed at the large number of lawsuit settlements the city has made in police misconduct cases.

With the exception of City Councilman Michael Woo, Bradley, Hahn and Reiner are the only elected officials to have been scheduled to meet with the commission.

Woo provided testimony to the panel at one of its five public sessions held last month and recommended, among other things, that an independent civilian review board be established to handle misconduct complaints against officers.

Gates has expressed opposition to a review board. He has said, however, that he is open to the recommendations that the commissioners will make in a report scheduled to be completed July 1.

Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Rick Dinse, who is acting as a liaison between the department and the Christopher Commission, said Gates has no “pre-planned presentation.”

“He is planning on going there to respond to questions of the commission,” Dinse said. “He’s been interested in appearing and wanted to be there. They were fully intending to call him and a date was established.”

On Thursday, in addition to the elected officials, the commissioners will have telephone interviews with Ernest Curtsinger, a former Police Department commander who is now chief of police in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Cmdr. Michael Bostic, who is overseeing a Police Department investigation of its training procedures.

The Christopher Commission, headed by former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, was formed April 1 by Bradley at the height of the furor over the beating of King in Lake View Terrace after a traffic stop. The panel was later merged with a citizens committee that had been formed by Gates.

Former California Supreme Court Justice John A. Arguelles, who was chairman of the Gates committee, is now vice chairman of the Christopher Commission.

Nelson said members of the commission will meet Friday for their first major discussion on what they have found.