Levant Liked for Diligence, Work Against Drug Abuse : LAPD: Deputy chief’s effort for DARE is admired. But his high-profile ambition has inspired ill will.

On autumn afternoons in the late 1950s, long after football scrimmage was over, you could still find Glenn Levant out on the field practicing. What the eager young lineman lacked in size and speed, he made up for with enough gritty determination to win a spot on the Reseda High School Regents football team.

“He wasn’t the most gifted athlete in the world,” recalls Jim Tippett, Levant’s coach. “But he certainly was there all the time, trying to better himself and improve his skills. Heavens, he was a competitive kid.”

At 50, Glenn Arthur Levant has not changed much from that tenacious teen-ager. He still hunkers down to work before most and remains long after most have gone.

But now, his playing field is the Los Angeles Police Department and the stakes are much higher. After rising through the LAPD ranks to deputy chief, Levant is one of six finalists in the contest to become chief of police--one of the most coveted law enforcement jobs in the nation. Levant tied for fourth place in the rankings by a civilian panel--with Assistant Chief David D. Dotson and Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker--out of a field of six.

“He always wanted to be the very best, and to do the very best,” said El Cajon Police Chief Jack Smith, one of Levant’s first partners. “That has never left him, not to this day. He is a Renaissance man in terms of law enforcement. He’s done everything, and he’s done it very well.”

Levant remains competitive as ever. He says his progressive blueprint is what is needed to reform the embattled department, but declines to discuss it, citing the ongoing competition. “I really can’t talk about that,” he says, smiling. “It would tip my hand.”

Although noncommittal about specific plans, Levant has been outspoken about the shortcomings of the department in which he has served for 29 years. He testified in a lawsuit that Assistant Chief Robert L. Vernon infused his fundamentalist religious beliefs into his work. And he told the Christopher Commission that police often discourage citizens from filing misconduct claims.

Levant has made no secret that he wants Chief Daryl F. Gates’ job, and his unabashed single-mindedness has inspired much resentment and ill will. His detractors say privately that he has cleared his path to the top not through diligence, but through self-promotion, ruthlessness and even duplicity.

“The man is hated by people throughout the department. He is a tyrant, and he’s vindictive as hell. He does not hesitate to abuse his power to do favors for people,” said a high-ranking LAPD official who used to work for Levant. The official, who like many others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity, was not a candidate for chief and is not a partisan on behalf of any finalist.

Levant’s critics cite an investigation he ordered at a Westside hotel, an inside deal on rental cars used by LAPD officers and a no-holds-barred search for his wife’s stolen Mercedes as examples of his willingness to use his position to benefit those he knows.

Levant denies the allegations and dismisses such criticism as the sour grapes of those who resent leadership and reform. “It takes a lot of hard work and administrative courage to effect change in the Police Department,” he said.

He may not win any popularity contests, but Levant is arguably the most high-profile finalist from within the department. In 1988, he was named by Gates and Mayor Tom Bradley to become the city’s--and nation’s--first drug czar, and he quickly became a media fixture. Even his critics acknowledge that Levant led efforts that transformed Gates’ program of drug-prevention in schools--DARE--into an acclaimed curriculum taught to millions of students worldwide.

During the past year, Levant has authored a host of innovative policing programs as commander of the LAPD’s Westside Bureau, a 123-square-mile area stretching from West Los Angeles beaches through Hollywood to the fringes of downtown.

Although some question his motives, few question his work ethic.

At 6:30 a.m. one recent day, Levant was on the fog-shrouded rooftop of Hollywood Division headquarters, leading an annual military-style inspection of his troops. Instead of the usual natty suit, he had on his navy police uniform, a 9-millimeter Beretta slung across his right hip.

His cap was off, revealing brown hair that is thinning in front and graying at the temples. His eyes bore into each officer as he asked questions of some and complimented others. When he was done, he congratulated them all for having a good year, and recites from memory a long list of crime statistics for the division.

“I know those numbers, and they should know them,” he said later. “Some of them didn’t.”

It was not until 8 p.m. that night that he left for his home in the Beverly Glen section of Los Angeles, having sandwiched meetings with subordinates and community leaders between his administrative duties. Described by colleagues as a hands-on commander--one calls him an accountability fanatic--Levant also likes to show up at crime scenes before his patrol officers--”to see how they handle themselves.”

Levant does things like that to maintain the perspective of the beat cop, the front-line soldier in the war against crime and the critical link between police and an increasingly alienated public.

“Obviously, the beating of Rodney King has resulted in a loss of public confidence in the police,” he said recently. “And it’s up to the department, contact by contact, incident by incident, telephone call by telephone call, arrest by arrest, in every way, to restore that confidence.”

It was beat cops, in fact, who unwittingly steered Levant from his affluent family’s bowling alley and travel agency into law enforcement. Two hard-boiled retired detectives who worked security at the family-owned Reseda Bowl regaled the teen-ager with war stories. He was all ears.

“It sounds hokey, but those guys were committed to public service. They really were,” Levant said.

After marrying his high school sweetheart, Jayne, he did a stint in the military and joined the police force in 1963. He moved up quickly from patrol officer, studying hard for promotional exams and always finishing at or near the top of the list, said Cmdr. Walt Mitchell, now head of DARE, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

“There was no doubt in my mind then that the sky was the limit for him,” Mitchell said.

By 1966, Levant made detective. Six years later, back in Van Nuys, he started the department’s first division-wide Neighborhood Watch program, so residents could work with their patrol officers. He climbed quickly through positions as Internal Affairs sergeant, community relations lieutenant, patrol captain and commander of the citywide juvenile division.

Levant then headed the Personnel Division in 1978, and became known for promoting minorities and women. “I’m a good example,” said Capt. Jan Carlson, the highest-ranking woman in the department.

During off hours, Levant kept studying, earning degrees at colleges and police academies.

By July, 1985, Gates tapped the young commander to head the coveted Bureau of Special Investigation, where he oversaw drug and major vice enforcement, labor relations and public affairs and the nascent DARE program.

Levant boasts that as drug czar, he directed the most productive drug enforcement organization of any major U.S. city. While the drug trade burgeoned and Los Angeles became known as a cocaine center during the late 1980s, the Police Department confiscated 44 tons of cocaine under Levant’s command, seized $235 million in drug money, arrested 275,000 suspected drug dealers and users and forged close relationships with myriad drug enforcement agencies, Levant said.

“Glenn has a very creative mind,” said Beverly Hills Police Chief Marvin D. Iannone and Levant’s onetime boss. “If there was a problem confronting the department, he was one of the guys to come up with practical, viable suggestions.”

At the Bureau of Special Investigation, the spotlight of acclaim and recognition shone brightly on Levant. But his penchant for holding news conferences prompted some subordinates to grumble. And by 1990, after some quietly accused him of abusing his power to help friends and relatives, a top-secret LAPD investigation into Levant’s activities was launched, according to several sources interviewed for that inquiry.

In late 1989, Levant had ordered elite narcotics detectives to spend two days at a posh hotel outside city limits to catch a thief who was stealing from hotel guests, sources close to the stakeout said. The owner of Le Mondrian hotel in West Hollywood was involved with the DARE program board and had business ties to Levant’s wife and brother-in-law.

Narcotics officers objected to being used in the operation, one source said recently. “It was a pay-back,” said another. “We shouldn’t have been there.”

In another incident, Levant ordered narcotics officers to rent cars for undercover operations from a company with connections to his brother-in-law. The cars were sometimes more expensive, almost all white and easily identified as police vehicles, sources say. When his wife’s Mercedes was stolen with her 25th wedding anniversary diamond ring in it, sources said Levant mobilized nearly the entire San Fernando Valley narcotics force to recover them.

Levant denies any wrongdoing, saying he had good, but confidential, reasons, for sending detectives to Le Mondrian. The rental car arrangement saved money, he says, and he denies ordering the massive police response after the holdup of his wife.

Nonetheless, many subordinates believe that Levant was banished from the prestigious central command in January, 1991, for his alleged transgressions. Gates said publicly that Levant’s transfer to the Westside was part of a routine shake-up of the department’s top command. Police brass--and Levant--still deny that the inquiry ever took place.

Some who say they were interviewed in the inquiry complain that Gates went easy on Levant because he valued the political and community contacts he had made as head of DARE. And they said Levant retaliated against them for participating in the inquiry--which Levant denies.

Whatever the reason for the transfer, Levant has made the most of it.

He has maintained a high profile, introducing the LAPD’s first bureau-wide cultural awareness program for newly assigned officers. John Ferry of the Gay and Lesbian Police Advisory Task Force said the program builds much-needed bridges, helping officers acclimate to the burgeoning cultural and ethnic diversity of the city.

Levant also established a Spanish-language crime prevention program and quickly responded to the Christopher Commission’s calls for more community-based policing. One program, in which bike patrol police communicate by radio with a West Los Angeles Neighborhood Watch group, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

“I think he is visionary,” said Ro Campbell, founder of the Crestview Patrol Against Crime.

Levant also brought more Korean-speaking officers into the Wilshire Division to improve relations with Koreatown residents, one of his many attempts to make the department more accessible to the 95 cultural and ethnic groups on the Westside.

He has also won high marks for his handling of the many Westside political demonstrations, particularly those that erupted after Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill banning job discrimination against homosexuals--with one notable exception.

On Oct. 23, police officers clubbed several gay rights activists during a Wilson fund-raiser in Century City. Levant was the on-the-scene commander, and later told the Police Commission that activists provoked his officers. Angry gay activists told the commission that the police charged the protesters without provocation.

Some police watchdog and community groups say they are unimpressed so far with Levant’s Westside track record.

The Police Watch lawyer referral service received 239 complaints of excessive force and other police misconduct last year on the Westside, compared with 134 in 1990. Even though most divisions went up by a similar amount, the group’s director, Karol Heppe, said the increase reflects poorly on Levant and his command.

“If the problem continues to escalate,” she said, “what they’re doing is not working, if they’re doing anything at all.”

During 1991, Levant responds, his was the only bureau to experience a drop in gang-motivated crime and use-of-force incidents, and an increase in arrests--3.7% for serious crimes--statistics confirmed by the department. Gang-related murder rose by 27.3%, however, and crime in Hollywood soared.

On the Westside, Levant has continued to promote his “one true passion”--the DARE program, which he says is the only way to eradicate the drug epidemic, by eliminating the market through education.

Levant was a natural to take a lead role in the program. He moves easily in upper-echelon social circles and displays an impressive wit, attributes that allowed him to raise millions of dollars for DARE and cultivate allies ranging from community leaders and titans of industry to President Bush.

But even Levant’s participation in DARE has rankled some, who say he emphasizes his contributions at others’ expense.

Even with DARE and his other commitments, Levant is a doting family man. He made sure, for instance, to take a recent Friday off to be with his wife on her birthday.

Levant says DARE is his main hobby, but his wife confides that he does five or so crossword puzzles a week and is a voracious reader of historical novels. Their two daughters have long since moved out and Levant--a new and proud grandfather--stays home more now. The department’s highest-ranking Jew, he occasionally goes to temple.

“And he just loves to take me on long Sunday drives,” Jayne Levant said. The two often head down country roads in their BMW convertible, listening to Mozart with the top down.

For Levant, such outings--and frequent travel--are a welcome respite from the rough-and-tumble world of LAPD politics--especially as the selection process has become increasingly rancorous in its final stages.

Despite the rancor, Levant remains unfazed.

“In this process, like life itself, you can’t be distracted by the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune,” he said. “It’s a tragic flaw to wake up and react to what the day brings. You have to have a plan.”

Profile: Glenn A. Levant

Levant, who was tied for fourth on a list of six finalists to become Los Angeles’ next police chief, has spent 29 years in the department and is now the commanding officer of West Bureau, which covers most of the city’s Westside. Born: June 8, 1941, in Reseda. Residence: Beverly Glen section of Los Angeles. Education: Bachelor’s degree in in police administration from Cal State L.A., 1970; graduate work in public administration at USC, 1976; graduate of California Police Command College’s first class, 1986. Career highlights: U.S. Army, 1960-1962. Joined LAPD in 1963 as a patrolman. Became a sergeant, 1966; lieutenant, 1970; captain, 1974; commander, 1979; deputy chief, 1985. Personal: Married to Jayne Levant. Two grown daughters. Serves on the board of DARE America, the national offshoot of the LAPD anti-drug program. Enjoys reading, crossword puzzles, travel, driving. Known for: His role as the city’s drug czar and promoter of the DARE program from 1985-91. Emphasis on community-based policing and building bridges with the Westside’s ethnically and racially diverse community. “Obviously, the beating of Rodney King has resulted in a loss of public confidence in the police. And it’s up to the department, contact by contact, incident by incident, telephone call by telephone call, arrest by arrest, in every way, to restore that confidence.”

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