Police Plan Sparks Council Shouting Match

A proposal by City Councilman Marvin Braude for implementing a pilot community-based policing program ran into strong opposition Monday from a colleague who said it placed too much power in the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The criticism, leveled during a meeting of a special council committee on police reforms, sparked a shouting match between Braude and Councilmen Ernani Bernardi and Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Ridley-Thomas had been a Braude ally and a strong supporter of police programs that emphasize crime prevention over arrests. But he criticized Braude’s proposal for failing to define clearly the extent of the community’s role in implementing the program.

At a news conference, Ridley-Thomas later suggested that Braude had deliberately tried to “placate” Police Chief Daryl F. Gates by drafting a proposal that emphasized the role of the Police Department--and not the community--in establishing such a program.

“I think Braude is quite concerned about doing anything that might alienate the chief,” Ridley-Thomas said. “My objective is to have a credible community-based policing proposal go forward.”

Braude, chairman of the five-member Ad Hoc Committee on the Christopher Commission Report, submitted his proposal Monday for approval. He said he hopes that the proposal, based on testimony to his committee, will be submitted to the full council on Dec. 3.

The councilman defended his proposal, saying that any community-policing plan must be embraced by police as well as the community. His proposal, he said, is only a starting point for discussion by the council.

The plan calls for the police chief and the Police Commission to establish community-based policing programs at four stations within six weeks of adoption by the council.

The programs would focus accountability on station captains, minimize the creation of specialized units that could drain resources, and assign officers to small neighborhoods for two years to ensure that they become familiar with residents.

Results would be reviewed by the City Council on a quarterly basis, and compared with those of the department’s other 14 stations.

Ridley-Thomas blasted the plan, saying it failed to clearly define the meaning of the term “community-based policing.”

“It is a police-driven proposal, Mr. Braude,” Ridley-Thomas said. “It ought to at least reflect what the name suggests, community-based policing.”

When Braude responded by telling his colleague to “read the first line of my report,” Ridley-Thomas shouted back: “Don’t patronize me! I read it. Now, what’s the role of the citizen?”

Bernardi referred to the proposal as “Braude’s choo-choo” and accused him of “trying to railroad it through the City Council.” Bernardi said the proposal needs more debate.

Later, Braude told reporters, “I’m very disappointed in Mr. Bernardi and very disappointed in Mr. Ridley-Thomas. . . . But I’m confident when this comes before the full City Council it will be adopted.”

Braude also noted that the committee took testimony at public hearings on the matter. “That’s not railroading anything,” he said.

Police Commissioners Jesse Brewer and Stanley Sheinbaum, Police Cmdr. Lawrence Fetters and Dennis M. Perluss, a deputy general counsel for the Christopher Commission, all praised the proposal as an important first step in encouraging a working partnership between police officers and residents to solve problems.

“We support all of the recommendations,” Fetters told the committee, “and we are ready to move forward.”

Perluss said the proposal had been favorably reviewed by the Christopher Commission as “an outstanding and important first step in implementing community-based policing.”

Ridley-Thomas said he intends to introduce a series of “adjustments” when the ad hoc committee resumes its hearings on the recommendations today.

The adjustments, Ridley-Thomas said, include the establishment of “citizens groups” in each pilot area to help the Police Department identify crime problems, and a requirement that officers consult with an agency such as the Urban League to increase their familiarity with community needs.