20 Police Chiefs to Meet With Minorities : Law enforcement: LAPD’s Daryl Gates will not attend the two-day conference called by the Justice Department. Focus will be on easing tensions in communities.

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday announced that it will convene a closed-door two-day meeting with 20 Los Angeles County police chiefs and 60 minority community representatives to discuss easing tensions over police use of force--but the LAPD said Chief Daryl F. Gates will not attend.

“It’s most likely we will be represented, but it will not be by Chief Gates,” said Lt. Fred Nixon, an LAPD spokesman. Nixon said he could not say why Gates would not attend, but “it’s probably no more complicated than it conflicts with something else.”

Assistant Police Chief Robert L. Vernon will represent Gates at the meeting, said Ron Tomalis, a Justice Department spokesman.

Disappointment at Gates’ absence was expressed by a leader in the Asian community whose group is a co-sponsor of the meeting. Bong Kwan Kim, president of the Asian Pacific Planning Council, noted that Los Angeles will be the only Police Department represented by someone other than its chief. He called it “too bad,” but still expressed hope of a productive outcome.

The meeting, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Compri Hotel in San Pedro, was arranged by the Community Relations Service of the Justice Department in the wake of the March 3 police beating of Rodney G. King.

Its announcement was accompanied by an endorsement from U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh.

“This conference is a positive step taken jointly by the chiefs of police and minority community leaders in Los Angeles County,” Thornburgh said. “I commend those involved for taking this important initiative.”

Community Relations Service Director Grace Flores Hughes said the purpose of the meeting will be to “assist police chiefs and community leaders to develop an understanding of the issues involved and to continue working together to develop an appropriate plan of action for jurisdictions in Los Angeles County.”

Although the meeting will be closed, participants said they will hold a news conference after the meeting concludes Saturday.

Sponsoring the conference will be the Justice Department, the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Assn., the Asian Pacific Planning Council, the Hispanic Advisory Council to the Los Angeles Police Commission and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

According to an agreement among the sponsors, each group is to designate its own representative, and no elected officials are to be among them.

“We weren’t told which chiefs would be there (by the Police Chiefs Assn.), but we were told at least 20 police chiefs throughout Los Angeles County would be there,” said Kim.

For more than three months, Gates and the LAPD have been at the center of a furor over police relations with minority communities, but the chief has urged peaceful dialogue. Some people suggested that his presence at this week’s gathering could be helpful in starting that process.

In what could be a coincidence, the Hollywood Reporter said in its editions Monday that Gates is working hard with ghostwriters on a book for Bantam for which he is getting a guaranteed $300,000 advance.

Although Bantam and Gates made the deal before the King beating, Bantam “figures the project is now so hot it’s bringing in a second writer to help get it into shape in a hurry,” the Reporter said.

Gates was not available for comment Monday. Nixon said he and other high-ranking department officers are on an annual retreat in South Laguna.

Plans for the Friday and Saturday meeting call for each group to caucus by itself on the first day, formulate its prescriptions for easing tensions and then discuss them with the other groups at a meeting on Saturday. Community Relations Service officers of the Justice Department will be on hand to facilitate the discussions.

Jarone Johnson, Western regional director of the NAACP, said his group had designated “a good cross-section of representation, both geographically and from organizations.”

He said the NAACP will have eight members attending, but that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Urban League and other groups had also been invited to join the African-American contingent.

“We are seeking diversity,” said Gloria Romero of the Hispanic Advisory Council. “We wanted a community emphasis that would get the point of view from the bottom up.”

Accordingly, she said, the Latino contingent will include not only lawyers who have worked on police misconduct cases, but also students from East Los Angeles College and Cal State Los Angeles, as well as others who have “worked for, represented and fought for” the Latino community.

Alhambra Police Chief Russell Siverling, the designated spokesman of the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Assn., could not be reached Monday.