Backing on Both Sides of Police Reform Amendment Is Diverse : Politics: Campaigning on the June 2 ballot measure crosses over the traditional conservative-liberal divide.

Fortified by the support of three Los Angeles City Council members, the Police Protective League drew 750 off-duty officers to a spirited rally Tuesday to generate rank-and-file support for the campaign against a proposed City Charter amendment that would give City Hall greater control over the police chief.

The 8,100-member police union, with a war chest estimated at $500,000 and a recently hired political consultant, is bidding to become the strongest component in a three-way campaign against the charter amendment, which critics say will politicize the Police Department. Outgoing Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and a citizens group share the same objection to the proposed amendment but are conducting separate campaigns.

But on a day of mixed political messages, supporters of the measure picked up the surprise endorsement of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., an influential business organization in the San Fernando Valley, where opposition to the amendment was expected to run high.

The association’s support could offer a financial boost to the campaign for charter change which, up to now, has been relying for funds on a fairly narrow base of Westside law firms and downtown business interests.

Benjamin Reznik, chairman of the 300-member group, said a major reason for the endorsement is the perception that crime and law enforcement are out of control, making Los Angeles a less desirable place for business.

“This perception has been severely aggravated by the video display of the Rodney King beating and subsequent revelations of police misconduct uncovered by the Christopher Commission,” Reznik said.

The diversity of groups on either side of the measure, which will be on the June 2 ballot, indicates that the campaign is not breaking down along traditional liberal and conservative lines.

Two of the council members who announced their opposition to the amendment Tuesday--Hal Bernson and Joan Milke Flores--are Republicans, while the third, Ernani Bernardi, is a Democrat.

Bernson and Bernardi represent San Fernando Valley districts. Flores represents the Harbor area.

Of the 15-member council, several others with Valley constituents have either endorsed the measure or are expected to do so.

There are also divisions among law enforcement representatives. While Gates and the police union oppose the charter amendment, it has won the support of Police Chief-designate Willie L. Williams and two former police chiefs--businessman Tom Reddin and Republican State Sen. Ed Davis of Santa Clarita.

Among this week’s political surprises was a decision by conservative Republican political consultant Wayne Johnson to endorse the ballot measure in a voter guide he sends to about 100,000 Los Angeles households. Johnson, who is known for his affiliation with right-to-life and anti-gun control causes, said his decision reflects disillusionment among conservatives with Gates as a result of the tactics used by Los Angeles police to break up a 1990 anti-abortion protest. In a lawsuit filed by protesters, Gates’ department was accused of using brutal and unreasonable force.

“The police chief’s natural base among conservatives has been sorely damaged,” Johnson said.

A second Republican consultant, Alan Hoffenblum, who also sends what is known as slate cards to a large number of Republican households, said the directors of his organization are “tilting” toward an endorsement of the charter change but will not make up their minds until the end of the month.

Hoffenblum said that to Republicans the most appealing aspect of the charter change is the term limit it would place on the tenure of police chiefs.

“With a new police chief coming in who has been blessed by the liberal mayor and the liberal Establishment, it might be comforting to a lot of other people to know that the new chief couldn’t serve for life,” Hoffenblum said.

For Flores and Bernson, however, who are two of the council’s more conservative members, the fear of politicization outweighed other considerations.

“The possibility of having a chief of police indebted to the mayor far outweighs the good in the measure,” Flores said.

The police union’s rally was held in the Police Academy’s gym, festooned with red, white and blue balloons, and featured appearances by former Mayor Sam Yorty and radio commentator George Putnam, and by union officials who warned that passage of the charter amendment could put officers’ jobs in jeaopardy.

Charter Amendment F, said Protective League President Bill Violante, “will change the way you are promoted and demoted.

“If the mayor and the City Council decide you should be fired,” Violante said, “believe it, you’re gone.”

The loudest applause went to Putnam who warned “we have facing us now the biggest power grab in the history of this city,” and declared: “Damn it, with my last breath, I will see this does not come to pass.”

To the delight of the crowd, Putnam then hoisted his middle fingers in a gesture of defiance toward the political supporters of Charter Amendment F.