Williams Chooses Command Staff : LAPD:First Latino deputy chief named. Promotions are regarded by some as a prelude to reorganization.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams, taking the first step in what some anticipate will be a substantial reorganization of the LAPD, named his new command staff Tuesday, selecting as one of his two top assistants a veteran officer who has never served a day as deputy chief.

Williams also set a precedent by naming a Latino to the rank of deputy chief, the first in the Police Department’s history.

Though not directly criticizing retired Chief Daryl F. Gates, Los Angeles’ new chief expressed confidence that his new staff will provide the LAPD with a level of leadership that many critics contend was all but absent during the early phases of last spring’s riots.

Williams also said the department has begun drafting tactical plans to combat any future riots. Officers have begun receiving riot-related training in anticipation of problems that could arise from court action in the Rodney G. King and Reginald O. Denny beating cases.

“Our motto is that never again will anyone inside this organization or outside have to worry about whether the (LAPD) can do what’s expected of it,” Williams said at a news conference.

Historically, promotions within the LAPD have come by way of a rigid, pyramid-like chain of command: Commanders have been appointed to deputy chiefs; deputy chiefs to assistant chiefs. Williams bucked that practice Tuesday, elevating a commander, Frank E. Piersol, to assistant chief.

Piersol, 48, has served as the department’s longtime liaison to the civilian-run Los Angeles Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD. His selection by Williams was seen by some within the department as a favor to the commission for having chosen Williams as Gates’ replacement. Others, however, commended Piersol as a savvy, hard-working administrator whose promotion to assistant chief was well deserved.

“It’s a good fit, for once,” said one captain, “a round peg in a round hole.”

Piersol will head the Police Department’s Office of Administrative Services.

Williams on Tuesday also announced the promotion of Deputy Chief Bernard C. Parks, 48, to assistant chief. The debonair Parks commands the department’s Central Bureau and was once regarded as Williams’ stiffest competitor for the chief’s job. He is the LAPD’s highest-ranking black officer after Williams.

Parks will supervise virtually all patrol personnel in the city as head of the LAPD’s Office of Operations--although there is considerable speculation within the department that Williams is considering decentralizing at least some Office of Operations functions.

In addition, Williams on Tuesday named the city’s first Latino deputy chief, Robert S. Gil, a 46-year-old commander who serves as the chief’s spokesman. Gil’s promotion was roundly hailed by Latinos.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Joe Sanchez, founding member of the Mexican American Grocers Assn. “It heals up a lot of the wounds created under the (Gates) Administration. I think the police officers will do the job better and the community will feel better.”

Also promoted to deputy chief:

* Cmdr. Ronald C. Banks, 53, who serves as Williams’ chief of staff. A 25-year police veteran, Banks has worked vice and narcotics assignments, among others, and holds a law degree from San Fernando Valley College of Law.

* Cmdr. Lawrence E. Fetters, 50, head of the department’s West Bureau. Fetters, who joined the department in August, 1963, has served in divisions throughout the city, including Northeast, Southwest and Wilshire.

* Cmdr. Bayan Lewis, 50, who directs the LAPD’s Uniformed Services Group. Lewis is a retired lieutenant colonel in the California National Guard.

Williams also announced the promotions of two captains, Daniel B. Watson and David J. Gascon, to the rank of commander. He has yet to fill three other commander positions.

Williams said that he has not yet determined where the new deputy chiefs and commanders will be assigned. Those decisions, he said, will be made within the next several days while the new command staff attempts to iron out a possible departmentwide reorganization. He would offer no details Tuesday of that reorganization except to note that there are no immediate plans to scrap the LAPD’s four geographic bureaus.

In making known his selections for assistant chief, Williams did not select deputy chiefs Ronald A. Frankle, Matthew J. Hunt and Mark A. Kroeker, three veteran officers who were named to their present ranks by Gates. Williams’ decision would appear to leave the three little chance of promotion, at least in the near future.

Hunt, who commands the LAPD’s South Bureau, and Frankle, commander of the department’s Headquarters Bureau, could not be reached for comment. Kroeker, however, who heads the department’s Valley Bureau, said he harbored no resentment over Williams’ decision.

“He has my full support,” Kroeker said. “How can I be disappointed when I’ve been promoted about six times more than I ever expected to be?”