LOS ANGELES : Williams Given Leave to Join Waco Inquiry

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday approved the absence of Police Chief Willie L. Williams on May 17 to attend a Washington meeting of the panel appointed to help in the investigation of the bloody federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex.

Williams and two others--former Watergate special prosecutor Henry Ruth and USC journalism professor Edwin O. Guthman--were named to the panel by Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen to look into the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms during the much criticized raid on Feb. 28 that left four ATF agents and several cult members dead.

The independent panel, which will have access to internal ATF documents, will report to Ronald K. Noble, assistant secretary of the treasury for enforcement. Noble oversees the ATF, which is an agency of the Treasury Department.