Group to Push for Chicano Police Chief : Law enforcement: A diverse organization of activists and business leaders hopes to boost the chances of four who are interested in the LAPD job.

A diverse group of Mexican-American activists and business leaders has decided to mount a unique, organized effort to promote a Chicano as the logical successor to Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Instead of allowing aspirants to quietly enter the Civil Service selection process, the leaders of NEWS for America have decided to stage highly public events to convince the city’s leadership and the general public that a qualified Chicano ought to be considered for the chief’s job.

In doing so, the group hopes to boost the chances of at least four Chicanos interested in the job. They include the two ranking Chicanos in the Police Department, an area commander with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the ranking Chicano in the Chicago Police Department, who has twice been a finalist for the chief’s job there in the last eight years.

The group’s campaign, which officially begins Saturday with a news conference and reception at the San Marino home of attorney Manual Hidalgo, is the first intended to promote particular candidates to the chief’s post. Thus far, Los Angeles Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker is the only potential candidate to announce that he will apply for the job. Others have issued only vague comments when asked about their intentions.

Xavier Hermosillo, chairman of the 100-member NEWS for America group, said the effort is being made because Latinos make up more than 40% of Los Angeles’ population. Of those, about 65% are of Mexican descent.

“If we as leaders of the Mexican-American community don’t take the initiative to seek them out and promote them,” said Hermosillo, a government affairs and public relations consultant, “who will?”

The campaign comes at a time when the Police Department has been repeatedly accused of stymieing chances of promotion and pay raises for Latinos and other minorities. On Tuesday, the city agreed to settle a state discrimination complaint that contained those allegations.

LAPD figures show that there are only seven Latinos, seven blacks and no Asian-Americans above the rank of lieutenant within the 8,209-officer department.

At this point, no one has formally applied for the chief’s job. But that is typical this early in the process, said Personnel Department General Manager John J. Driscoll.

The selection process will begin in earnest within a month when the city’s Civil Service Commission, which heads the Personnel Department, is expected to appoint the first of two citizen panels to screen candidates.

The first, called a review panel, will study written applications from candidates and reduce the number to 10 to 15.

Then a second citizen panel, the “oral board,” will administer the examination, rank the remaining candidates and send the names of the top six scorers to the appointed Police Commission, which will make the final choice.

Driscoll said the application period is tentatively set to end Nov. 30, but might be extended.

On Saturday, four Chicanos are expected to attend the NEWS for America news conference and announce that they want to replace Gates when he steps down, possibly in April. They are:

* Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Robert Gil, 45, a 23-year LAPD veteran who currently serves as the department’s spokesman.

* Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Art Lopez, 41, who is second in charge of the department’s command and training division and who for four years commanded the Hollenbeck patrol division in Boyle Heights.

* Los Angeles Sheriff’s Cmdr. Lee Baca, 49, who heads Sheriff’s Department operations in a region stretching from North Long Beach to San Dimas. That territory includes cities with large Latino populations.

* Matt Rodriguez, 55, an assistant police superintendent in Chicago who is a 31-year veteran of that department.

Others also have been mentioned for the position.

At least two of the three eligible black candidates in the LAPD--Deputy Chief Bernard Parks and Cmdr. Ron Banks--are expected to apply. Some observers in the LAPD give Parks, who heads operations in the Central Bureau, the best chance of any inside candidate.

Others believed likely to apply from inside the department are Assistant Chiefs Robert Vernon and David Dotson, and Deputy Chiefs Glenn Levant, Matthew Hunt, Ron Frankle and William Booth.

Saturday’s events are the first for the normally low-key NEWS for America group, which was founded last year by Eastside newspaperman Gonzalo (Corky) Perez.

“It’s time that we’re reckoned with by everyone in the process--the mayor, the City Council and the Police Commission,” said Perez, an associate publisher of Hispanic Marketing for Northeast Newspapers of Los Angeles.

The group’s aim, said Hermosillo, is to advance the agenda of the city’s Mexican-American population and seek solutions to issues confronting Southern California’s Chicano community.

While he and others will not discuss the group’s membership publicly, prominent Mexican-Americans including liberal activist and grocer Joe Sanchez, Olvera Street restaurateur Vivien Bonzo and Republican Party stalwart and businessman Fernando Oaxaca say they are members.

As for the group’s name, Perez said it has nothing to do with the news media.

“It just means that Latinos, and Mexicanos in particular, are everywhere,” Perez said, “north, east, west and south. Hence the name, NEWS for America.”

The group has come in for some criticism from those who believe its view of Latino issues is too heavily skewed toward those of Mexican descent.

Some veteran Latino activists also contend that the group may scare off some potential candidates for police chief with its high-profile approach to promoting aspirants for the job.

“I’m not running for political office,” said one potential candidate, who asked that his name not be used. “Whoever is (the next) police chief needs some independence.”