Philadelphian and L.A. Deputy Chief Top Police Finalists : LAPD: By leading list of six with two prominent blacks, panel offers historic chance for a minority police chief. Latinos are angry at not being represented.

The race to succeed Daryl F. Gates as Los Angeles police chief was narrowed to six candidates Friday with two prominent blacks--one from outside the embattled department and one from within--receiving the highest marks.

After interviewing 12 semifinalists earlier in the week, a city-appointed panel announced at a late afternoon news conference that it awarded the top score to Philadelphia Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams. He was followed closely by Deputy Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, a 27-year veteran of the department.

By placing the two black law enforcement officials at the top of the list, the panel presented the first opportunity in Los Angeles history for the appointment of a nonwhite chief.

The panel also set the stage for a head-to-head contest between an outside candidate and one from within the 8,300-member force--breaking the tradition of tapping officers who have risen through the Los Angeles Police Department ranks to take the helm. That move is certain to generate considerable controversy among veteran Los Angeles police officers.

“We were looking for a person with strong police management skills and who could gain community confidence and lead the department into the future,” said former state Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, who chaired the panel of seven members.

The new chief will assume Gates’ office as the department is being besieged by allegations of brutality, racism and mismanagement in the wake of the beating last March of Rodney G. King and as a series of police reform proposals are decided by the voters in June.

Williams, 48, is the only outside candidate to make the final cut. Besides Parks, who also is 48, the other finalists were ranked in this order: Deputy Chief Matthew V. Hunt, Assistant Chief David M. Dotson, Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker and Deputy Chief Glenn A. Levant.

Assistant Chief Robert L. Vernon, who has been accused of improperly infusing his fundamentalist religious views into his police work, was eliminated from the competition. Vernon was unavailable for comment, but his attorney said the assistant chief’s elimination was not surprising because his reputation had been severely damaged.

Gates told reporters he was distressed that some candidates--such as Vernon--were not selected. “I saw some good candidates not on the list and I’m sorry for that,” the chief said.

The special panel has sent the names to the Civil Service Commission, which will certify the list and forward it to the Los Angeles Police Commission. That five-member board, whose members are appointed by the mayor, will choose one of them as early as April.

Williams, who was reappointed last month to a second four-year term as Philadelphia’s police commissioner, said in an interview Friday evening that he thinks he “can bring some of the skills and knowledge” to assisting the LAPD that he used to mend relations with the minority community in Philadelphia.

“We have to rebuild bridges between the police and the community and the government,” he said of the turmoil surrounding the LAPD. “The challenge is to take a very good department and just make it better.”

Parks, who was barely edged out of the No. 1 spot on the finalist list, oversees field operations in the department’s Central Bureau. He could not be reached for comment.

When the city’s next top law enforcement officer assumes command, he will face a formidable task.

“Whoever takes over is going to have to be superman,” Gerald Arenberg, executive director of the Miami-based National Assn. of Chiefs of Police, said in describing the job facing the next chief. “It’s going to be a killer.”

The city’s diverse minority communities, which together make up a majority of the population, want an LAPD leadership that is more sensitive to their specific needs. Black and Latino leaders had been hoping that representatives of their community would be named.

Reaction from the city’s Latinos was swift and angry because no Latinos were among the finalists.

“It’s a tremendous injustice to a community that represents 40% of the (city),” said City Councilman Richard Alatorre.

“It’s an outrage,” said Xavier Hermosillo, who heads a coalition of Latino groups calling for a Latino chief.

Latino leaders were particularly angry over the elimination of a high-scoring Latino candidate who was bumped as a finalist because of a built-in advantage for LAPD candidates. A City Charter provision requires non-LAPD candidates to outscore all insiders to earn a finalist’s spot.

Although there were four outside semifinalists, only Williams was ranked above each of the eight LAPD competitors.

One of the leading Latino candidates, Division Chief Lee Baca of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, outscored some but not all of the LAPD finalists, meaning that he was prevented from advancing to the next phase. If there were no insider advantage, Baca would have ranked third.

“It is widely felt by many prominent Angelenos that I should have been on the list,” said Baca, an East Los Angeles native.

Van de Kamp said members of the selection panel were “disappointed and chagrined” that an “old, antiquated” charter requirement prevented a highly qualified Latino like Baca from becoming a finalist.

Alatorre, visibly angry, said he will seek to delay appointment of the chief until after the city’s June election, when voters could remove the insider advantage, enabling Baca to rejoin the race. Council President John Ferraro said he would not object to a delay, but other council members said a new chief should be named quickly.

The selection process has been one of expectations for various interests within the city--including police officers--because of the magnitude of the changes that appear to lie ahead for a department that has enjoyed a great deal of autonomy over the years.

“This is absolutely the most reviewed and watched and scrutinized (selection of city official) in the history of this city,” said John J. Driscoll, who has been city personnel chief for 14 years and is overseeing the selection process. “On a scale of 1 to 10, its a 1,000.”

Here is a closer look at the finalists:

Williams is the first black to lead the Philadelphia Police Department and the first city police commissioner in at least 20 years to survive a change of mayoral administration in the nation’s fifth-largest city.

In trying to overhaul the Police Department, Williams has employed a management style that has been supported by some and opposed by others, particularly the city’s police officers union. A member of the Philadelphia force for 27 years, he attended Northwestern University and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

In the LAPD, Parks oversees field operations in the Central City. He was appointed deputy chief in 1988 by Gates. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from USC.

Parks generally receives high marks for his management skills. Supporters say he would be particularly sensitive to minority communities. But many Anglo and Latino officers have expressed concern privately that he has appeared to favor black officers and has close ties to Mayor Tom Bradley, who is seen as a leading department critic.

Hunt, 61, is in charge of police operations in the southern area of the city. The Irish-born police administrator has kept a relatively low profile in the department. He has been praised for trying to improve relations with residents in some of the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods.

Hunt joined the LAPD in 1961 and was named a deputy chief several years ago. He received a bachelor’s degree in police administration from Cal State Los Angeles.

Dotson, 58, oversees the administrative and litigation side of the Police Department. He is regarded by many as personable, but a strict disciplinarian. He was briefly named acting police chief during an ill-fated Police Commission attempt to remove Gates last year. He also was the highest-ranking LAPD officer to criticize Gates’ management in testimony to the Christopher Commission.

He joined the force in 1958 and has been an assistant chief since 1985. He has a two-year degree from College of the Canyons and attended Pepperdine University.

Kroeker, 48, oversees police operations in the San Fernando Valley. He has been credited for his efforts over the past year to restore relations with minority communities in the northeast Valley, where the King incident occurred. He was the first candidate to publicly declare his candidacy for Gates’ job and has held numerous media events, bringing criticism that he is a self-promoter.

A member of the force for 26 years, he has been a deputy chief for four years. He has a master’s degree in public administration from USC.

Levant, 50, supervises Westside police operations. He oversaw the development of the nationally recognized DARE anti-drug program, which sends police officers into classrooms.

As head of the key narcotics unit, he came under scrutiny by the department for sending officers outside the city to investigate burglaries at a hotel with business ties to two of his relatives. He said he did nothing improper.

The selection process has been marred by some controversies. Most recent was an investigation of possible fraud, prompted by Gates’ assertion last week that some candidates did not prepare their own crucial essays on how they would lead department.

Driscoll announced Friday that his department’s investigation found no evidence that applicants had either used ghostwriters or misrepresented their applications.

Times staff writers Jesse Katz, Josh Meyer, Dean E. Murphy and George Ramos contributed to this report.

LEGAL AID FOR VERNON: A fundamentalist group is raising funds for Assistant Police Chief Robert L. Vernon. B1

The Finalists

The highly charged race to succeed Daryl F. Gates as Los Angeles police chief has been narrowed to six finalists, who appear below. The Police Commission will select one of them to take over the 8,300-member Los Angeles Police Department. Willie L. Williams, Philadelphia police commissioner since 1988. Bernard C. Parks, LAPD deputy chief, commanding officer of operations--Central Bureau. Matthew V. Hunt, LAPD deputy chief, commanding officer of operations--South Bureau. David D. Dotson, LAPD assistant chief, commanding officer of Office of Administrative Services. Mark A. Kroeker, LAPD deputy chief, commanding officer of operations--Valley Bureau. Glenn A. Levant, LAPD deputy chief, commanding officer of operations--West Bureau.