Williams Named New Police Chief

The appointment of Williams brings me limited hope. As a working police officer, I and all the other street cops have been personally suffering from the aftereffects of the “Foothill incident.” The department has been virtually immobilized by the crisis. The mayor, the City Council and the media have made the situation worse in their attempts to force Chief Daryl Gates from office. The pressure on street officers has never been greater. Support for street officers has never been less.

The management of the department has engaged in internecine warfare while the lower ranks have had to carry on as if nothing was wrong. The workload is crushing the lower ranks and nobody--not the city leaders, not the media and not the department management--seems to care. The onslaught against the department impacts on street cops as well as the chief. The media delight in bashing the chief and management, but the rest of the department also suffers heavy damage at the same time.

If the mayor and council are unhappy with the chief, so be it, but their lack of support for the 7,000-plus good officers is killing people on the streets. Our workload has never been greater, our morale has never been lower. Our effectiveness has diminished by almost every measure.

I urge everyone, especially my brother and sister officers, to get behind Williams and the working street cops and try to pull the Police Department out of the crash dive we’re in. I just hope it’s not too late.

J.T. DAY

Palmdale