Naming of Gates’ Successor Appears Near : LAPD: Commissioners are silent after two-hour meeting. Williams is seen as the favorite.

The Los Angeles Police Commission met behind closed doors for more than two hours Tuesday amid indications that a successor to Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates could be announced within days.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams remains the apparent front-runner, City Hall sources said, but the commissioners refused to comment on their deliberations.

Mayor Tom Bradley, who had been vacationing in France, arrived back in the city Tuesday evening, officials said, and is expected to participate in the announcement--one of the most closely watched city appointments in decades.

Police Commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum was unusually tight-lipped as he slipped out of Parker Center after the panel’s meeting and was pursued to his car by reporters.

“No comment, no comment,” Sheinbaum repeated when asked if a consensus had been reached or if further meetings were needed. Earlier, Sheinbaum had said he hoped an announcement could be made this week or next.

Commissioners also declined to comment on news reports in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that Williams is the apparent choice to replace Gates, who after leading the LAPD for 14 years agreed to retire amid the furor over the Rodney King beating.

Reached late Tuesday in Philadelphia, Williams also declined to comment.

On Tuesday, The Times reported that Williams, who has been praised for his efforts to implement community-based policing and other reforms in the 6,300-officer Philadelphia force, had emerged as a leading contender after background checks and a series of commission interviews with the six finalists.

If selected, Williams, 48, would be the city’s first black police chief and the first to come from outside the LAPD in more than 40 years. In the aftermath of findings by the independent Christopher Commission that the LAPD suffered from racism, excessive use of force and lax officer discipline, some city and community leaders had called for a new chief from outside the department.

Other officials, however, have argued that a chief from outside the LAPD would be handicapped by lack of knowledge of the huge 8,300-officer bureaucracy and the political ropes at City Hall.

Gates said Tuesday it “naturally would be more difficult for an outsider to come here and familiarize himself with the department and for the department to familiarize themselves with him.” Asked about Williams, Gates said: “I like Willie very much. I think he’s a nice guy.”

Williams was ranked first by an oral interview panel of law enforcement and civic leaders. And as the only police chief among the finalists, he has established a record of community relations and taking a firm hand with rogue officers.

The other finalists, all from inside the are LAPD, are Deputy Chiefs Bernard C. Parks, Matthew V. Hunt, Glenn A. Levant and Mark A. Kroeker and Assistant Chief David D. Dotson.