Give Chief Williams a Chance

Vote against Propositions M and N if you wish. Make believe there’s enough money hidden somewhere in the backwaters of the city budget for 1,000 more cops and a 911 system that’s not falling apart. But if the vote goes against these two L.A. city ballot measures, there won’t be 1,000 more police officers and there won’t be a 911 emergency-response system worth its name and there will be one very dismayed police chief left to preside in the aftermath of such a tragic defeat.

He’s Willie L. Williams, the new LAPD chief, and to a growing number of people he’s the best thing to happen to this city in a long time. He’s smart, sincere, adept and committed. He comes to the task of helping rebuild a once-proud Police Department with a reformer’s enthusiasm and a street cop’s smarts. But he can’t do it alone; he needs your help--and he surely could use those 1,000 officers to make community policing work.

To his credit, the chief has not said that all of the good work of the Christopher Commission and the Webster Commission will go down the drain and out into Santa Monica Bay if Propositions M and N fail. He says he will stay the course no matter what.

But that may be the stoicism of a committed reformer, and a true gentleman, talking. In truth, the city is badly under-policed, and in the middle of a recession there just isn’t enough money to go around.

Oh--the cost to the average L. A. homeowner for the new 911 system and the 1,000 more police officers? About $100 a year--a small price to pay for a lot more peace of mind.