Retired Assistant Chief Named to Police Panel : Commission: Bradley appoints Jesse Brewer, who criticized Gates’ leadership, to civilian board.

Moving to tighten his control over the Los Angeles Police Department, Mayor Tom Bradley on Wednesday appointed to the civilian Police Commission a retired assistant police chief who recently criticized the department’s disciplinary practices and the leadership of Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Bradley announced the appointment of Jesse Brewer, 69, as the City Council opened its hearings into the findings of the Christopher Commission, the independent panel that last week released a broad-ranging report that detailed problems of racism, sexism, excessive force and management failures in the Police Department.

Brewer, the highest-ranking black official in Police Department history, will, in effect, become Gates’ boss if his appointment to the five-member panel is confirmed by the City Council. The nomination of Brewer was greeted with praise from council members, who are expected to quickly confirm him.

At a news conference with Bradley, Brewer said he endorses the recommendations of the Christopher Commission, including the suggestion that Gates begin preparations to step down. Gates should do so “as soon as possible,” Brewer said.

Gates, in brief remarks to a reporter as he left Parker Center on Wednesday evening, declined to comment directly on Brewer’s appointment, but said, “I can work with anyone who will work with me in good faith.”

Asked if Brewer’s criticism would make it difficult for the two to work together, the chief said: “You have to ask Jesse. He’s the best one to answer that.”

Bradley denied that the appointment of Brewer was an attempt to provoke Gates. But City Hall sources said the action was part of an effort by the mayor’s office to turn up the heat on the chief and force him to step down in the wake of the police beating of motorist Rodney G. King.

Brewer was among those who criticized the Police Department in testimony before the Christopher Commission, saying he would give Gates a D grade in the handling of discipline. While on the department, Brewer quietly disagreed with Gates on some policy issues, most recently on the active recruitment of homosexuals, to which Gates objects.

Brewer replaces longtime Police Commissioner Sam Williams, who resigned last week after the Christopher Commission urged that the panel be reconstituted. No replacement has yet been named for acting commission President Melanie Lomax, who also announced her resignation. Bradley is said to be considering appointing a member of the Christopher Commission.

Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who headed the commission, opened the hearings Wednesday by urging the City Council to begin work on the entire spectrum of reforms proposed by his panel, including a City Charter amendment that would limit future police chiefs to two five-year terms. The commission also recommended that Gates, who has served more than 13 years as chief, begin preparations for stepping down.

“Our recommendations are institutional in nature, transcending personalities,” Christopher told the council’s Public Safety Committee. “They are designed to put in place a modernized, balanced system that will serve the city and its citizens well into the next century.”

The Christopher report proposed a range of structural changes in the Police Department, including tighter disciplinary controls and better handling of civilian complaints, but council members focused their questions to Christopher almost exclusively on the recommendation regarding the chief’s tenure. Some said they were concerned that the proposed changes would subject future chiefs to unacceptable political interference.

Under the Christopher proposals, future chiefs would be appointed by the mayor and could be removed at the end of the first five-year term. Under the current City Charter, the chief is appointed by the Police Commission and has virtual lifetime tenure.

The question of when or whether Gates will step down continued to dominate the discussion of police reform on Wednesday, as it has since the Christopher Commission released its findings nine days ago. Gates, 64, has refused to set a retirement date, but he has said he would set the date after the council calls a special election on term limits for the chief’s job and his successor is chosen.

“The chief should not be removed and should not be forced to resign,” said Christopher. But he said that Gates should announce a retirement date now and the search for a successor should begin.

While Christopher maintained that the commission attempted to avoid personal attacks, Councilman Hal Bernson, a staunch ally of Gates, said: “Personality has been heavily injected into this issue. There are personalities in this . . . and they cannot be ignored as long as we have police commissioners making the kinds of decisions they did yesterday.”

The appointment of Brewer comes just one day after the Police Commission dealt Gates another blow by revoking his controversial decision to reassign Assistant Chief David A. Dotson who, like Brewer, criticized department leadership in testimony before the Christopher Commission.

Brewer said he has not spoken with Gates in recent days, but does not anticipate any problem in working with the chief.

“Chief Gates and I have been very close for the last three years because I was one of his top staff people,” Brewer said. “We worked very well together, very cooperatively. We confided in each other, I don’t think that’s going to cease because of my testimony.”

In his testimony, Brewer, a 38-year department veteran who retired in February, said that lack of management attention is “the essence of the excessive-force problem in the department.”

Brewer told the commission he has believed for several years that officers’ conduct is “out of control” in terms of rude and disrespectful treatment of the public.

A top priority as a police commissioner, Brewer said, will be to improve police relations with the community.

“One of the things I would place at the top (of my list) is how the Los Angeles Police Department treats the people,” he said, adding that he will strive to eliminate officers who are overly aggressive.

Bradley, a former Los Angeles police officer, said the selection of Brewer was his idea and that they have been friends for decades.

Bradley said he selected Brewer because he “brings to this position the kind of respect that he has earned over the years from all quarters of this community. . . .”

“It’s a brilliant idea,” said Councilman Michael Woo. “It assures that someone who knows the Police Department will be in a position to oversee the Police Department . . . and have the guts to say baloney when the commission is told they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Said Councilwoman Joy Picus, a longtime Gates supporter, “It was an extraordinary appointment. Impeccable, masterful.”

Bernson said he has “tremendous respect” for Brewer, but added, “My only question is the timing . . . after the comments he made to the Christopher Commission.”

Community leaders, fellow commissioners and members of the Christopher Commission who were contacted by The Times also responded favorably to Brewer’s appointment.

John A. Arguelles, vice chairman of the Christopher Commission, said: “I think he would have a very calming influence right now in the city in its relationship with the Police Department. He is a highly respected member of the community.”

Newly appointed police commissioner Anthony de los Reyes said, “I can’t imagine a better person at this time.”

Said Lomax: “He has undeniable credibility and has no illusions about (the) chief of police and the problems in the department. . . . He gave courageous testimony before the Christopher Commission. I believe his appointment sends absolutely the right message to department and department personnel. He’s a no-nonsense, service-oriented, good cop.”

In an apparent effort to mend fences with his critics in the black community, Gates, with most of the Police Department’s top leadership in tow--including his two assistant chiefs and several deputy chiefs and commanders--met for two hours with about two dozen black ministers, business people and community activists.

Ken Thomas, publisher of the weekly Los Angeles Sentinel who attended the meeting, said the gathering was supposed to be a revival of the Black Community Forum, a series of bi-monthly meetings between Gates and black community representatives.

Thomas, a member of the original group, said several of the group’s most prominent members--all of whom have called for Gates’ resignation--boycotted Wednesday’s meeting. They included heads of the Urban League, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The meeting, Thomas said, “started out with the same old rhetoric of excuse, alibi and justification of the department’s activities. Then we got down to the nitty-gritty. . . .”

He said a follow-up meeting has been scheduled for Sept. 11.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, which began hearings Wednesday, said he will next call Gates, representatives of the Police Protective League and the Command Officers Assn. to testify on Monday.

Times staff writer Andrea Ford contributed to this story.