LAPD Chief Choice Could Be Voided, Ruling Warns

Throwing the process to replace Police Chief Daryl F. Gates into doubt, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office Thursday warned that the planned selection of a new chief next month could be tossed out.

The fate of the most closely watched City Hall appointment in decades hinges on two factors: the date that Gates selects to leave office and a vote in June on a ballot proposal that could significantly change the police chief appointment process.

The 12-page opinion by City Atty. James K. Hahn states that if the changes are approved and take effect before Gates retires, then the planned appointment of a new chief by the Police Commission within several weeks would be invalidated. The selection process would be overhauled to conform to the new system, meaning that new candidates could be added to the hotly contested process.

Should voters strike down the proposed changes--which include term limits for future chiefs and the elimination of scoring advantages for candidates within the Los Angeles Police Department--then the appointment would take effect as soon as Gates steps aside, according to the opinion.

In either case, a new chief cannot be appointed until the departure of Gates, who has said that he plans to leave after the June 2 election, probably before the beginning of July.

Gates, who has repeatedly criticized the system of selecting his successor, was unavailable for comment. But his spokesman, Cmdr. Robert Gil, said the chief has been saying for months that the selection process should be slowed down until after the election so “we know what the rules are.”

Despite the new uncertainties, Police Commission President Stanley Sheinbaum said his five-member board intends to press ahead with the selection of a new chief next month from among the six finalists, headed by Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams of Philadelphia and LAPD Deputy Chief Bernard C. Parks, both of whom are black.

The political and law enforcement turbulence in the aftermath of the Rodney G. King beating, Sheinbaum said, has to be ended. “We’ve gone this far,” he said. “We’ve got to go through with it. And we hope it all goes smoothly.”

Sheinbaum acknowledged that the commission’s selection could be nullified, but said that the panel has a responsibility to assure the speedy transition of leadership recommended by the Christopher Commission.

He said the Police Commission was proceeding partly on the basis of Gates’ assurances that he would “definitely be leaving the first week in June”--before any changes in the law would take effect, making the commission’s appointment permanent.

But as recently as Tuesday, Gates was waffling again, as he has done several times during the last year. He told reporters that although he may physically leave office in June, he has accrued vacation time that will prolong his term until the end of that month. That will be close to the time that the election results could be certified and the selection system changed.

The city attorney’s opinion was quickly seized upon by City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who is upset that no Latinos are among the list of six finalists being considered. He has authored a motion, scheduled for debate today, urging a delay until after the election in the hopes that voters will approve new rules, clearing the way for candidates from outside the Police Department to be considered.

“Why is it that we’re in a rush to push the selection?” Alatorre asked. “It seems (a delay is) the prudent course to take so nobody can be critical that the process is unfair to anybody.”

Council President John Ferraro, who seconded Alatorre’s motion, agreed. “I don’t see any reason why there shouldn’t be a delay,” Ferraro said. “Whoever the commission is going to designate is going to have to wait for the chief to retire.”

But Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas disagreed, saying that the commission should quickly select a new chief because “it is an essential component of reform of the Los Angeles Police Department. I see no compelling reason to delay any single facet of reform in the department.”

Assistant City Atty. Fred Merkin, who drafted the opinion at the request of various officials, said his findings underscore the delicate decisions facing City Hall leaders.

“They have to be very thoughtful in selecting a course of action because there are different consequences that can flow from different decisions,” he said.

Merkin said there are risks in not making a selection soon, including the possibility that candidates may drop out of the competition.

Even if the selection made by the Police Commission was nullified, Merkin said, the same list of candidates could be used to make the selection under a new voter-approved system that would shift the appointment power from the Police Commission to the mayor and City Council.

The mayor’s office declined to comment on the city attorney’s opinion.

Ray Allen, assistant general manager of the Personnel Department, said the opinion “puts the whole issue of how quickly we ought to move on making an appointment in question.”

One Latino candidate who failed to make the list of finalists but who could benefit by a delay in the process until after the June election is Division Chief Lee Baca of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He would have placed third among the finalists if the City Charter had not provided an advantage to LAPD candidates.

Under current rules, an outsider must score higher than all inside candidates to make the final cut.

On Thursday, questions were raised about Baca’s role in a lawsuit that will cost county taxpayers nearly $14 million. The case involves a 1977 civil dispute between two parties over possession of a 110-foot Marina del Rey yacht, Magnifico, which was converted to a floating recording studio.

Baca, who is appealing his failure to make the list of finalists, helped one of the parties--not the lawful owner, as it later turned out--take control of the vessel while he was a lieutenant at the Marina del Rey station. During the dispute, the boat’s rightful owner, Richard Compton, had contended that those trying to assume control of the Magnifico were “Mafia” members, court records show.

Compton, who lived on the boat, successfully sued Baca and the county, claiming that his civil rights were violated because his property had been unlawfully seized. Two weeks ago, after more than a decade of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the county’s appeal of the lower court judgment, which found that deputies under Baca’s direction had acted unconstitutionally and ordered that the county pay the multimillion-dollar award.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor who represented Compton, said it would be “a grave mistake” not to examine Baca’s action in light of his efforts to be Los Angeles police chief. He said Baca made rudimentary mistakes that led to the $14-million judgment, payment of which is being negotiated.

Baca declined to comment, but county lawyers said he was not held personally liable because of shortcomings in the Sheriff’s Department’s training.

County lawyer Owen Gallagher said the laws involved were confusing and that Baca was trying to control a potentially violent encounter between the parties.

“I would say that the court judgment finding that he acted in good faith was a complete vindication of the way he acted under the circumstances,” he said.