Binkley Fired as Long Beach Police Chief

Lawrence Binkley’s controversial tenure as chief of the Long Beach Police Department came to an end Friday when the city manager fired him, saying officials had lost confidence in his leadership and judgment.

In a letter to Binkley, City Manager James Hankla informed the chief that because of his “significant past accomplishments,” he will be allowed to stay with the department if he chooses and work on special assignments through Feb. 14, when he becomes eligible for retirement.

In capping a six-week city investigation into the chief’s performance, Hankla concluded that “there is not sufficient evidence” that Binkley “engaged in any act of wrongdoing.”

Nonetheless, Hankla said that during his investigation he found that the chief had “exercised questionable judgment” a number of times and was the subject of criticism by most of his command staff. Binkley was temporarily removed from his post Dec. 23 pending a city review, which was triggered by complaints from police commanders about the chief’s allegedly vindictive management style, among other things.

“I have lost confidence in your ability to lead the Long Beach Police Department,” Hankla wrote in the letter he said was delivered to the chief’s home.

Binkley, 51, said he found the letter in his mailbox late Friday, was “stunned” by his termination and questioned the motives involved.

“They investigated all (these allegations of) misconduct, found nothing, (and now they say) ‘We don’t care. Now, we’re going to fire you.’ It’s mind-boggling,” Binkley said.

“The only thing I can think of is (that) they couldn’t find anything after a month and a half except that they didn’t like me investigating, or my guys investigating, public officials,” Binkley said.

Binkley did not elaborate, saying he wanted to make his statements brief because he was not feeling well and needed to find his wife and tell her the news before she heard it on the radio.

Last week, when word of a handful of secret department investigations involving four public figures leaked out, city officials strongly criticized the chief. They questioned why he had not followed a mandate from the city manager to turn over any allegations of wrongdoing to the district attorney’s office.

Binkley said the investigations involved criminal allegations and denied the accusations of Long Beach officials that it was an attempt to gather potentially embarrassing information about city leaders. When officers raised concerns about criminal allegations involving elected and appointed officials, he said it was his duty to tell the officers to proceed with the investigations, which he planned to turn over to the district attorney’s office once they were completed.

But revelation of the secret investigations further hurt Binkley’s relationship with the City Council and the city manager. Late Friday, some officials cited the existence of the files, along with other controversies that have dogged the chief, as reasons for his termination.

“I have lost confidence in (Binkley’s) ability to lead based on allegations that he investigated department heads and city officials. I think the city manager’s action was appropriate,” City Councilman Clarence Smith said.

Friday’s announcement comes after a week of negotiation over Binkley’s departure from the department he headed for nearly five years. One sticking point was that Binkley wanted a guaranteed disability retirement, which would give him 50% of his $110,000 annual salary, according to city officials, who said they rejected the request.

“I cannot agree to a disability retirement in advance of medical evidence. It’s an impossibility,” Hankla said.

But Jim Murphy, Binkley’s attorney, said he had not asked for special treatment, only that officials not “throw a monkey wrench” into any future disability retirement claim from Binkley. Earlier this week, Binkley filed for a stress-related disability leave, which is often the precursor for a disability retirement.

Neither Binkley nor his attorney could say Friday what his next step would be. Binkley also has the option of using his accumulated vacation time to carry him through mid-February, when he becomes eligible for retirement.

Hankla, the city manager, and several council members praised Binkley for his work in upgrading department standards and improving relations with the community, particularly with minorities.

“It was sort of a sad chapter to end (the) police career of obviously a dedicated police officer,” Councilman Evan Anderson Braude said.

Councilman Wallace Edgerton, who recently has become Binkley’s strongest supporter on the council, called the chief a “victim of the system” and said he “did his job and he did it magnificently.”

Long Beach Police Officers Assn. President Paul Chastain was reluctant to comment on Binkley’s removal, other than to say: “I do not think it’s going to have a negative impact on the Police Department.”

Officers contacted late Friday expressed delight at Binkley’s departure.

“I’d say the officers’ reaction to Binkley’s removal is mixed--somewhere between ecstasy and euphoria. It’s been a hard five years,” said one officer, who asked not to be identified.

Another said: “Remember when you graduated from college and all the stress was gone and all you felt was relief? It’s like that.”

Binkley had long been at war with the Police Officers Assn., whose leaders accused him of unfairly cracking down on the rank and file, punishing officers for even minor offenses and subjecting dissenters to reprimands, added work or transfers.

City officials were accustomed to the union’s gripes and usually dismissed them as labor-management disputes. And although a handful of commanders left the department under pressure--one has a lawsuit pending against Binkley and the city--the chief enjoyed, at least publicly, support from the upper ranks. He also had strong backing from the city manager, the City Council and the minority communities that make up half of the city.

Some of that support, however, began to crumble when two commanders, long considered Binkley supporters, hired an attorney and confronted city officials on Dec. 6 with their complaints.

Cmdrs. Alvin Van Otterloo and John Bretza complained that Assistant Chief Eugene Brizzolara attempted to influence their testimony during a civil trial in which all three men were defendants. The men also accused Brizzolara and Binkley of trying to push them off the force by making them take stress-related disability leaves.

Both Brizzolara and Binkley denied the allegations.

Brizzolara’s job performance also is under review by the city manager, who said Friday that the assistant chief’s future with the department had not yet been decided. Brizzolara has been off work on a stress-related disability leave since Dec. 20, the day he was told of the inquiry.

Times staff writer Bettina Boxall contributed to this story.