Gates Defends LAPD in Letter to Council : Police: The chief cautions against making radical changes in the department. One council member says the move is an attempt to undercut Christopher Commission reforms.

As City Hall debate heats up over proposals to reform the Los Angeles Police Department, Chief Daryl F. Gates has written to City Council members defending his agency’s aggressive crime-fighting tactics and discouraging radical change in “a basically sound and well-run department.”

Gates’ six-page letter, written last Friday and received by council members this week, offered a sweepingly upbeat view of the LAPD as the council ponders the proposals of the independent Christopher Commission.

Critics noted that the letter fails to mention the issues of racial bias and excessive use of force that have rocked the department in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating.

Gates has argued that it would be expensive to implement the Christopher Commission recommendations as written. He said in the letter that many proposals of the independent commission are already in place. Other “necessary changes” and “the true spirit” of the Christopher proposals can be implemented “in-house” at minimum cost, he wrote, if he and the council cooperate.

“None of us would buy a new car just because the one we have needs lubrication . . . “ Gates wrote. “Better that we take another look with a broader perspective” at the Christopher Commission proposals, Gates wrote.

The letter drew swift criticism. Members of the city Police Commission, who oversee Gates and his department, were miffed because they learned of the letter only after it circulated through City Hall. One council member said the chief appeared to be launching an effort to undercut the Christopher proposals.

“The main purpose of his letter is to discourage us from adopting widespread changes,” said Councilman Michael Woo, a Gates critic. Woo noted that Gates emphasized Los Angeles’ relatively favorable crime-rate statistics, but was silent on the department’s much-criticized relations with minority communities.

“It’s an attempt by the chief to change the rules of the game back to one he can win,” Woo said.

Gates, who has said he will retire next April, was on vacation and unavailable for comment Tuesday. A spokesman said the chief’s letter was a response to various inquiries by council members about the Christopher proposals. “Rather than write letters to (a) handful of council people, he thought it more appropriate, he thought it wiser, to send the letter addressing those points to the full council,” said Lt. Fred Nixon.

Police Commissioner Jesse Brewer, a former LAPD deputy chief, said he was surprised by the letter and its “tone . . . seemed to miss the point” of the Christopher proposals.

Gates made recommendations to the council on a number of issues of keen interest to commissioners without consulting them, said Police Commission President Stanley Sheinbaum. For example, Gates cautioned the council against “simply throwing more personnel” into a proposal that would beef up the Police Commission’s staff and enhance its ability to investigate the Police Department.

“Here he writes a letter to the City Council, and doesn’t even send us a copy, let alone tell us first,” Sheinbaum said. “He has felt for too many years that he doesn’t have to be responsive to anybody. (But) the City Charter makes it clear that he has to be responsible to the commission.”

Councilman Joel Wachs, who has been a Gates ally, viewed the letter positively, a Wachs spokesman said. With the city in a financial crisis, the chief held out hope that many Christopher proposals can be implemented without high costs, said Greg Nelson, Wachs’ chief deputy.

Critics have suggested Gates’ role in implementing the Christopher proposals be limited because he has criticized many of the recommendations.

In his letter, Gates said he “unreservedly” endorses the spirit of the Christopher proposals. He maintained the commission’s bottom line was: “As good as LAPD is, with sufficient commitment we can make it better.”

Despite a relatively small police force, Los Angeles’ 1990 homicide rate is the lowest of large U.S. cities and LAPD officers make far more arrests than other big city police, Gates wrote. “The aggressive, pro-active enforcement philosophy of this department is one of the primary reasons we have been able to accomplish ‘more with less,’ ” he said.

Gates for the most part did not address specific Christopher proposals. However, he said the Police Department already is a leader in community policing, which emphasizes neighborhood problem solving. “The extent to which the council joins me” in implementing the Christopher proposals, Gates wrote, will determine how fast the LAPD “can achieve new heights of excellence.”

Warren Christopher, who headed the independent commission, declined to comment directly on Gates’ letter. But, he said, “Our report identified serious problems in the use of excessive force, aggravated by racism and bias, and it is important to keep the focus on this.”

POLICE SCUFFLE

LAPD internal affairs investigators questioned one of two officers involved in a scuffle with a woman who works as a supervisor in the Parker Center jail. B8