LAPD Audits Units of Official Who Testified

A deputy Los Angeles police chief who told the Christopher Commission about deficiencies in the LAPD’s citizen complaint process has been informed that the units he supervises are undergoing an extraordinary internal audit, The Times has learned.

Some city officials questioned whether the scrutiny of operations headed by Deputy Chief Glenn A. Levant represents the second instance of retaliation against ranking LAPD officers who provided ammunition for the Christopher Commission, which last week issued a report critical of the department under Chief Daryl F. Gates. Earlier, an assistant chief was stripped of his command of the Internal Affairs Division.

Bill Chandler, a spokesman for Mayor Tom Bradley, said the mayor has asked the Police Commission “to take a careful and hard look at the two recent apparent examples of intimidation and retaliation” in the Police Department.

“No one should suffer retaliation for simply telling the truth,” Chandler said. “The Christopher Commission found the department’s code of silence must be broken and the mayor is committed to that goal.”

Meanwhile, Gates emerged Monday from a private meeting with Council President John Ferraro and insisted that his position on retirement remains unchanged--he will decide when he goes. Ferraro continued to insist that a deal had been struck with Gates to replace him after a citywide special election on a Christopher Commission recommendation to set a term-limit for police chiefs.

Los Angeles police commissioners--ostensibly Gates’ boss--said Monday that they were considering their options, including discipline of the chief, but they appeared skittish given the upheaval that followed an earlier unsuccessful attempt to suspend Gates.

The commission was scheduled to meet today and question LAPD officials about what has happened to Levant and Assistant Chief David D. Dotson after release of the report.

According to the Christopher Commission’s report, Levant, the deputy chief overseeing the Operations-West Bureau, “confirmed that some officers actively discourage people from filing complaints.”

The report went on: “Chief Levant stated that he asked volunteers to try to lodge complaints in certain divisions and report their experiences. The volunteers reported that division personnel actively discouraged people from lodging their complaints. Chief Levant, who has initiated action to stop that practice, believes that the problem is department-wide.”

Sources said that on July 9, the day the report was made public, Assistant Chief Robert Vernon--at Gates’ direction--ordered Levant to prepare a “fact sheet” explaining what he told the Christopher Commission.

A copy of the “fact sheet,” obtained Monday by The Times, states that Levant was directed to provide the document “no later” than 8 a.m. the next day, and that it was to be sent by messenger to the chief’s office as soon as it was prepared.

In the memorandum, Levant recounted how he and relatives surreptitiously attempted to file complaints against officers for misconduct, only to be discouraged in all but one instance by LAPD staff.

Levant added that his undercover evaluation was discussed at a meeting with other bureau commanding officers. “The belief was that if the situation was such in West Bureau, it was likely to be more far-reaching,” he said in the fact sheet.

Shortly after the document was sent to Vernon in the chief’s office, sources said, internal LAPD auditors from the department’s Inspection and Control Division began auditing his command.

The purpose and focus of the audit was unclear Monday, but sources decribed the singling out of individual operations for such scrutiny as unusual. An LAPD spokesman, Lt. Fred Nixon, said he was unaware of the audit, but “that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”

Levant would not comment on the situation Monday.

It appeared from the Christopher Commission report that Levant had responded to questions put to him by commission staff. In contrast, Dotson provided lengthy sworn testimony before the commission in which he sharply criticized the management of the Police Department.

While accepting some of the blame for the problems, Dotson also said that Gates is often inaccessible to his top command staff and that “we have failed miserably” to hold supervisors accountable for excessive force by officers under their command.

Shortly after the commission’s report was released, Gates relieved Dotson of his responsibilities over the Internal Affairs Division. Gates has denied that the move was made in retaliation.

At City Hall, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky echoed Bradley’s concern that the audit of Levant’s command, coupled with the action against Dotson, showed a pattern of unwarranted retaliation by Gates.

“It appears as though a pattern is beginning to develop at Parker Center to punish or harass those who cooperated with the Christopher Commission and to intimidate others from cooperating in the future,” Yaroslavsky said. “This is an untenable situation, which the Police Commission should immediately move to reverse.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, along with other activist groups, has called upon the Police Commission to consider whether the Christopher Commission findings constitute grounds for firing the chief.

“We’re thinking about it, talking about it, but we’re nowhere near that,” said Police Commissioner Stanley Sheinbaum.

Both Sheinbaum and Melanie Lomax--who resigned last week but remains as acting commission president until a successor is found--have made it clear that the commission is highly unlikely to take action against Gates unless it has the backing of the City Council, which in April overruled the panel’s decision to put Gates on a 60-day paid leave.

In an interview Sunday, Lomax said any move against Gates would undoubtedly be “very explosive.” She also questioned whether the council would back it, even in light of the Christopher Commission’s findings.

“It is clear that the political will has not been there,” she said.

According to Lomax, the panel today will instruct Gates to begin implementing as much of the Christopher report as possible. The mayor’s office is drafting a list of reforms that can be accomplished without additional funding or amendments to the Cty Charter. Lomax said the Police Commission is prepared to authorize whatever policy changes are necessary to put those reforms in place.

The panel is also expected to ask Gates how he plans to discipline 300 problem officers identified by the Christopher Commission.

The question of when Gates may retire is not on the Police Commission agenda, but Monday it again dominated dialogue at City Hall, where a pact linked to his departure had been announced Friday.

Ferraro, who helped orchestrated the supposed deal, characterized a 30-minute session with Gates on Monday as friendly, but said he told Gates there has to come a time when he publicly announces when he plans to leave. Ferraro said he believes the city will have a new police chief by next summer.

Ferraro’s announcement of the pact with Gates on Friday and seemingly conflicting statements by Gates over the weekend have sown confusion throughout City Hall and dampened enthusiasm of some in the City Council for supporting the chief.

Gates on Monday continued to offer his own explanations of the deal announced last Friday by Ferraro and Councilman Joel Wachs.

“Nothing’s been decided,” Gates said. “We need to get on with that process of finding out how to select the next chief of police and then maybe I can look at my crystal ball and make some decisions.”

He added: “All I have ever said is that I believe after my tenure in this city and what I have done for the city that I deserve to go out on my own terms--and not because some people are salivating for my retirement.”

Both Wachs and Ferraro said Monday that the chief has not backed away from the agreement. “There’s a deal, there’s a deal,” Ferraro insisted.

In a videotaped message played to officers at roll call late Monday and this morning , Gates said they would be the first to know when he plans to retire. “Before all this happened, my thoughts were to leave sometime in 1992, the latest early in 1993,” he said. “We have some building plans, and I want to see them through. It is driving people crazy because they can’t get some specific date.”

Despite widespread confusion about Gates’ plans, Ferraro said he intends to introduce a proposal this morning to call the special election this year. Also, Ferraro had arranged a meeting for today with Bradley, business leader Richard Riordan and Wachs. The four will discuss ways to break through the Gates impasse, sources said.

Times staff writers Frederick M. Muir and Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this story.