Gates Softens Stance on Moonlighting Officers Wearing the Uniform

Citing the spiraling rate of crime throughout Los Angeles, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Tuesday softened his opposition to allowing off-duty police officers to wear their uniforms while working in the private sector.

“For a long time I was philosophically opposed to it,” Gates said at Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting. But “I’ve come to the conclusion that when you have a crisis in crime, you have to find innovative ways to deal with it.”

Gates said he still harbors strong reservations about the plan, but he and Commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum agreed to study the proposal by Councilman Ernani Bernardi.

Gates’ comments came after Bernardi asked the commission to revise city policy and allow uniformed police to provide private security at shopping malls. Currently, off-duty police officers can wear their uniforms only while working athletic events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which sits on public property, and at filming locations on public property.

“Why not shopping malls?” asked Bernardi, who requested that the commission try out his proposal at Panorama Mall, a 68-store shopping center in his district where a teen-ager was shot to death last October in a gang confrontation.

Bernardi’s proposal mirrors a council motion he made three years ago that would authorize officers to wear their uniforms while employed in the private sector. That motion was stalled when the Police Commission and Gates opposed the idea.

Gates warned at the time that potential conflicts of interest could arise where a uniformed officer might be torn between his duties as a public peace officer and as a private security official. The chief cited the potential for increased city liability if off-duty uniformed officers made mistakes.

Gates also said it was possible that fewer officers would be available for official overtime if private employers turned increasingly to uniformed off-duty police to provide security.

On Tuesday, Bernardi disputed the availability argument, pointing out that hundreds of officers are off-duty each day, forced to take time off on a time-and-a-half basis because the city cannot pay the overtime they have already worked.

After Bernardi’s presentation, Gates cautioned that the councilman’s plan could create an inequitable situation in which more affluent employers would receive better security from uniformed police because they could afford it, whereas shopping malls in more depressed areas would remain vulnerable.

Bernardi’s proposal was welcomed by Panorama Mall Manager Mary Callahan, who said the mall, which has housed a new police substation since November, spends about $60,000 annually for its corps of 10 off-duty officers, who supplement 10 security guards.

“Anyone in uniform, especially in police uniform, has a lot more credibility than somebody in plainclothes,” Callahan said. “Uniforms seem to be a better crime deterrent. It’s a lot more visible.”