Officers Are Divided on Department’s New Boss

As the word began to leak Wednesday that an outsider from Philadelphia was being imported as the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, the cops in the high-crime, inner-city Southeast Division got on the phone, long distance.

“We called Philly and talked to a street cop,” said LAPD Sgt. Ted Maillet. “He said, ‘Give him a little time and you’ll be proud to call him your chief. . . . He’s a straight shooter. But screw up, and you’d better bring your Vaseline.’ ”

That review, from one of his kind, was good enough for Maillet, just one veteran in an emotionally divided department who is happy that Willie L. Williams was picked to succeed embattled Chief Daryl F. Gates. Other officers, however, were less willing to give Williams the benefit of the doubt. Many were resentful, even angry, over the selection.

Williams’ triumph--over five candidates from within the department--was widely perceived as a call for change in the massive agency and even as a slap in the face to officers who have served during Gates’ long tenure. Many street cops openly questioned whether an outsider with limited knowledge of the city and LAPD operations could effectively command the 8,300-member police force and deal with the myriad law-enforcement problems facing Los Angeles.

“I think it is a slam in the face to every Los Angeles police officer and to every citizen of this city,” said Capt. Michael Bagdonas, commanding officer of the West Los Angeles Division.

Bagdonas, 49, who is stepping down today in a long-planned retirement, said Williams’ selection has added a bitter touch to his own departure. Bagdonas called it one of the worst days in the history of the LAPD and said of Williams: “I hope he can improve the system, but I don’t give him much of a chance. The odds are slim he’ll be able to do anything. He’s coming from another part of the country, another part of the world . . . (and) he doesn’t understand the city or the process. And he’s not going to have time to understand it.”

Other officers were similarly upset.

“We have a lot of highly qualified people here who know the city and its needs,” said an unhappy Lt. Ron Hall, commanding officer of detectives for the West Los Angeles Division. “Mr. Williams does not. He does not know the department, he does not know the laws of the state of California, he does not know the way things work here. He may have done a good job in Philadelphia, but this is Los Angeles.”

In squad rooms and reporting stations and at front desks, rank-and-file officers reacted to the news of Williams’ selection with a widely varying mix of anger, relief, optimism, puzzlement and apprehension about the future. Williams, 48, was being talked about as a “good listener” and a workaholic who is likely to impose many changes in the department.

Among those changes may be the creation of an extensive network of police substations across Los Angeles to improve officer visibility, an approach he initiated in Philadelphia.

At the same time, Williams’ selection also is expected to spark a chain reaction of retirements and personnel moves in the long line of command below him. Eventually, a number of those who fell short of capturing the coveted chief’s chair probably will clear out, officers said.

Only hours after Williams arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Assistant Chief Robert A. Vernon, an early candidate for the top job, announced his retirement after 37 1/2 years on the force. Meanwhile, Williams moved to smooth potential ill feelings by planning to meet with his five closest competitors--all veteran LAPD brass.

The extent of further retirements and departmental moves may well depend on how quickly--and how firmly--Williams grabs hold of the reins of power, cops said.

“We don’t need all this chaos,” commented Officer Victor Castro, who said he is hoping, as many of his colleagues are, for a smooth transition. “Everyone’s wondering what (Williams) is going to be like.”

Some officers saw reason for hope after a year in which the department’s image has been near an all-time low, largely because of the police beating of Rodney King. In Williams, there will be a source of new ideas, maybe new charisma.

“An outsider might be better, not as tied to the system,” said Officer Bob Rose, a 22-year veteran working the front desk at the Devonshire Division.

Detective Reggie Jackson of the Wilshire Division agreed, saying, “I think it was a good choice they went outside. The Police Department has been structured around a certain system for a long time. . . . We need a shake-up.”

Mike Brox, another Wilshire detective, was even more enthusiastic. “I’m ecstatic,” he said. “It’s about time this department had a change in leadership.”

Brox, who is black, praised the selection of Williams as the first black to run the department. That will send an important message to the community, he said.

Still, critics railed against the political forces that might have played a role in Williams’ selection. Officer Joe Onorato, a 21-year veteran from the Southeast Division, bluntly labeled the choice “a political move” that may lead to an erosion in the quality of law enforcement.

“History shows that if you take somebody from the outside, it never works,” Onorato said. “You can’t take ideas from Philadelphia and make them work (here). This community’s just a different style of life. Every city that has taken somebody from the outside has fallen” in the effectiveness of police service.

What made the LAPD one of the world’s great policing agencies, Onorato said, was the freedom of chiefs such as Gates to operate without fear of political pressures. But in the wake of the King beating, politics has become an ever-growing threat to the department, he said. Williams’ selection is just one more example, he added.

“The officers in the street are caught in the middle of a political struggle,” which involves Mayor Tom Bradley, the Police Commission and the City Council, Onorato said. “They’re trying to take the power from Gates and give it to the mayor and the City Council, and if they do that, this department is going to crumble.”

Less than a month ago, rank-and-file Los Angeles police officers responding to a union survey picked Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker as their top choice to succeed Gates. Kroeker was chosen by 42% of the officers. Williams came in third with 12.5%. But the police union became the first to hail Williams’ appointment.

Without knowing much of Williams’ background, many officers were unsure how to react Wednesday, uncertain from one moment to the next whether to support the choice.

“My first reaction was not to pick an outsider,” said Officer Emilio Garay, a three-year veteran working in Southeast. “But if you think about it, maybe it is best. There is a lot that needs to be changed around here, as far as management. But not in patrol.”

Garay, who grew up in the East, wondered why police commissioners chose a chief from Philadelphia, a city reputed to have corruption and organized crime.

“They’re not the most impressive police force in the world,” Garay said. “They’ve always had a bad reputation. I don’t know why they picked him.”

Since the King incident, the LAPD has become more like police forces in many East Coast cities that tend to react to crime rather than getting out and looking for it, Garay added. There is now a fear that such a trend may continue.

Officer Mark Jackson voiced similar concerns, saying he takes pride in the LAPD and hopes it does not change.

But Officer Steve Griffin, who called himself open-minded, said he had heard that Williams cleaned up the Philadelphia Police Department, ridding it of corruption and inefficiency.

Rose, the Devonshire Division veteran, was philosophical. No matter who is chief, he said, “There are still bad guys out there and we have to catch them.”

Times staff writer Leslie Berger contributed to this story.