5 of 13 Semifinalists for Gates’ Job Disclosed : LAPD: They include a critic of the chief, a high-ranking black officer, and the former head of DARE program.

A deputy chief who criticized Los Angeles Police Department policies during last year’s Christopher Commission hearings, one of the force’s highest-ranking black officers, and the former head of the DARE anti-drug program are among 13 semi-finalists to replace Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, it was learned Monday.

Five contenders from within the Police Department told The Times they have been notified that they are among the top candidates culled from a list of 32 applicants for Gates’ job.

The narrowing of the list by a seven-member citizens screening committee is the next major step in selecting a successor to the often-controversial chief, who has presided over the force since 1978. Gates announced plans to resign after the infamous videotaped beating of motorist Rodney G. King plunged the department into a national controversy over police brutality.

A second panel will conduct interviews with the top applicants, probably next month, and a final list of approximately six candidates will be presented to the city Police Commission, said Jack Driscoll, head of the city Personnel Department.

The Police Commission, appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley, could select a new chief as early as April, Driscoll said, although Gates has said he may not leave until June.

The list of semifinalists is being kept secret, Driscoll said, to protect the confidentiality of applicants from other cities. Sources familiar with the selection process, who asked not to be named, indicated that eight of the 13 are now LAPD commanding officers and the rest are from outside the department.

In interviews, five LAPD commanding officers confirmed they had been notified that they made the first cut. They include:

* Assistant Chief David Dotson, who in testimony before the Christopher Commission gained notoriety as one of the few top-ranked commanders to criticize Gates’ stewardship of the department. Dotson joined the force in 1958.

* Deputy Chief Bernard Parks, a 27-year veteran and one of the department’s highest-ranking black commanding officers. Parks oversees field operations in the Central Bureau.

* Deputy Chief Glenn Levant, who formerly headed the LAPD-created DARE anti-drug program as commander of the Bureau of Special Investigations. A 26-year member of the force, Levant now heads the department’s West Bureau.

* Deputy Chief Matthew Hunt, commanding officer of the South Bureau and a member of the force for 30 years.

* Cmdr. Ron Banks, a 26-year veteran who is assistant commanding officer of operations in the South Bureau.

Other LAPD insiders believed to have applied for the job include Cmdr. Robert Gil, a top spokesman for Gates, and Cmdr. Frank Piersol, who manages the Police Commission staff. Gil and Piersol declined to comment. Assistant Chief Robert Vernon, another likely candidate, could not be reached for comment.

The identities of semifinalists from other cities could not be determined. But one controversial applicant, ousted Long Beach Police Chief Lawrence L. Binkley, said Monday he had been “de-selected” by the screening committee. Binkley, a former LAPD commander, was fired earlier this month for an allegedly ironfisted management style. Although he denied acting improperly, Binkley also became embroiled in allegations that he maintained secret investigative files on city officials.

The trimmed list of candidates for Los Angeles police chief includes no women, but four are minorities, said Superior Court Judge Candace Cooper, a member of the screening committee.

“There is ethnic diversity,” Cooper said. “I personally was very satisfied. . . . I think we have more than enough good candidates.”

The screening committee made its selections based on written qualifications submitted by the applicants, as well as a series of essays on such topics as how the department should respond to the city’s changing cultural mix.

“That issue was one of significant concern to members of the committee for both insiders and outsiders,” Cooper said. “Whoever applies for this particular job sure better have some thoughts on what to do about that.”

Critics of the LAPD’s history of conflict with minority communities, which came to a head after the King incident, have called for fresh leadership of the 8,300-officer force. They have expressed concern about the next phase of the ranking process, which under longstanding City Charter provisions will give LAPD commanders a substantial advantage over equally qualified candidates from other departments. Extra credit is given to LAPD officers for time served on the force. A non-LAPD applicant has not been appointed chief in more than 40 years.

Reforms that will be presented to voters in June would limit the chief to two five-year terms and make removal easier. If approved, those provisions would apply to the new appointee.