Flores Calls for New Los Angeles Police Chief

While stopping short of calling for the immediate departure of Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, Harbor-area City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores said this week she believes the time has come to begin the search for a new head of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Flores, a longtime Gates supporter, hinged his departure on the same condition the chief has previously mentioned: the scheduling of a citywide election where voters would consider a two-term limit for future chiefs of police. City lawmakers have discussed bringing that measure before voters in December.

In an interview, Flores said her call for a new police chief was based on the the recent findings of the Christopher Commission, a citizen’s panel appointed to study the Los Angeles Police Department after the March 3 videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King.

The commission report, issued last week, was critical of the Police Department’s training and tactics. And although it did not call for Gates’ immediate resignation, it did urge him to help the department make a transition into an era of reforms under a new chief.

“I don’t think this in any way should be construed that I am unhappy with the chief,” the councilwoman said. “But some problems have arisen that we have to face.”

Flores also said her position on Gates did not reflect a softening of her support for him or the Los Angeles Police Department. Earlier this year, that support was evident when Flores suggested that a videotape showing people “how to be arrested” might head off police-citizen confrontations.

While three of the council’s 15 members have called for Gates’ immediate ouster, Flores said she opposes firing the chief, fearing it would wreak havoc on the department and the city.

Likewise, Flores said she opposed the call by some for an interim chief to oversee the department while the ballot measure on reforms is readied for the voters. Any significant reforms within the department should be made by Gates’ successor, not an interim caretaker, she said.

But Flores said she would not wait indefinitely for Gates to retire.

“I, along with my colleagues, will do whatever is best for the department and the city,” she said. “And if that means at some point opposing Gates staying longer, then I would probably oppose that.”