LAPD ‘Unresponsive’ on Reforms, Lawyer Charges : Police: Christopher attorney says department appears to ‘resist meaningful’ changes. Gates disputes the allegation.

The Christopher Commission’s chief lawyer alleged Thursday that the Los Angeles Police Department has been “unresponsive” to the commission’s call to rein in excessive force and asserted that the department’s leadership “is appearing to resist meaningful reform.”

John W. Spiegel said he drew these conclusions from the Police Department’s formal response to the Christopher Commission findings.

Chief Daryl F. Gates and his staff concluded last month that “many of the (commission’s) recommendations are simply restatements of existing policy.” They said the department already sends a clear message to officers--through its manual--that excessive force will not be tolerated.

But Spiegel told a City Council committee that Gates had missed the point. “However laudatory these written policies and guidelines may be, the reality on the street conflicts with the rhetoric of the manual,” Spiegel said in a statement approved by commission Chairman Warren Christopher.

“Had the . . . commission wished simply to reassure itself and the public that the written policies of the department were appropriate,” Spiegel added, “it would not have required a staff of over 50 lawyers and 60 accountants, working over 25,000 hours to interview hundreds of police officers, conduct public hearings throughout the city, hear testimony from dozens of experts, and review over a million pages of LAPD and other records.”

At a news conference called in response to Spiegel’s charges, a “deeply incensed” Gates said he has been taking seriously the recommendations of the Christopher Commission, which was appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley after the videotaped police beating of Rodney G. King last March.

But Gates took issue with the commission report: “I just have to tell you very bluntly that 50 lawyers and 60 accountants (working for the Christopher Commission) did not do a good job in my judgment. . . . And an awful lot of what they produced is hearsay, not based on substantial evidence.”

The chief said he is particularly displeased that he cannot verify what some of his officers told the commission in secret sessions: “Is this a lynching? (There is) no due process. . . . We don’t know who our accusers are.”

The commission concluded after a 100-day investigation that a fundamental change was needed in the attitude of the Police Department’s leadership to combat a problem of excessive force by many officers. However, Gates said he believes that officers already adhere to their manual, which prohibits excessive force.

The commission also concluded that there were widespread problems with racism and sexism in the 8,300-member department. It proposed a series of reforms, including City Charter changes to remove civil service protection from future chiefs and limit them to a maximum of 10 years in office. The City Council has given preliminary approval to the charter changes, which also require voter approval.

Gates acknowledged that he had responded to the report in some instances merely by restating existing policies. “That’s true,” he said. “I said that right from the beginning that . . . many of the recommendations that are made by the (Christopher) Commission--are simply saying: ‘Department, do what you’ve already been doing.’ ”

But Gates insisted that he has made a concerted effort to adopt suggested reforms wherever he could, including changes in the way new officers are trained. “If the taxpayers only knew of the large number of people I’ve had to take out of the field . . . to deal with these recommendations,” Gates said, “I think their eyebrows would go up and they’d be saying: ‘Chief, we need those people on the street.’ ”

Spiegel made his statement to a City Council committee that is considering reforms proposed by the Christopher Commission. Although the statement was not issued by the commission, Spiegel said he had discused its “general nature” with commissioners when they met this week for a staff briefing. The meeting was the commission’s first since it delivered its report last July.

“There was no objection voiced,” Spiegel said. “And the statement was reviewed by Mr. Christopher.”

Christopher confirmed that in an interview. “I saw it in draft form. . . . I didn’t object to it. It’s consistent with our basic report. The basic report emphasizes the problem was not so much policy as it was practice.”

Spiegel said it is not clear whether the department is following through on a pledge to study all officers with multiple excessive force complaints.

Gates said the department is studying 44 officers, whom the Christopher Commission identified as having serious problems with excessive force. He said more officers will be studied.

Spiegel said Gates sent “mixed signals” to his officers when he said that the problem of racist and sexist police car computer transmissions is not as serious as it first appeared.

Gates said Thursday that most of the racially objectionable transmissions were sent by minority officers to each other.

In his wide-ranging news conference, Gates reiterated, in response to a question, that he is no longer sure that he will retire in April. “Every time I hear something like this (Spiegel’s criticisms), I think maybe I should stay around a little bit longer,” he said.

He also criticized Spiegel, saying he wonders whether Spiegel’s law firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson, was retaliating against Gates for criticizing the firm years ago when it represented the Black Panthers for free.

Spiegel said: “The chief is I think just confused. Our law firm to my knowledge has never represented the Black Panthers.”

PERSPECTIVE ON POLICE: John Spiegel discusses how LAPD has reacted to reform proposals. B7