How Low Can Morale Go? Don’t Ask : LAPD: The public thinks that a new chief meant a new department, but in the ranks, things are worse than ever.

William Violante’s invitation to other police agencies to recruit officers from the Los Angeles Police Department brought a furious reaction and questions about his lack of allegiance and judgment. How could the president of the police union, now a deputy mayor, undercut his chief, the department and the community?

Those reactions reflect a dim public understanding of the crisis existing within the LAPD. Wishful thinking and relief that Daryl Gates is gone has left Angelenos feeling that their police department is well on the road to recovery, that, with Chief Willie Williams in charge, the LAPD is becoming what L.A. desperately needs.

Well, it’s not.

As an officer who works the street, I want to warn Los Angeles that its Police Department is in dire straits. I do not speak for the department, but I believe my observations are an accurate reflection of our tenuous state. LAPD’s rank-and-file are demoralized, suspicious and angry.

Critics of Violante’s invitation would do well to concentrate their energies on why he made such an offer and why officers are pleased to have the option of working elsewhere--and are acting on it.

When Chief Williams came in a year ago, I was sure of one thing: Things couldn’t get worse. He is still credible and I’m proud of the relations he has forged with the community. But things are worse.

In a city where crime is legend and the police-to-citizen ratio is among the lowest in the country, there are even fewer officers on the street. Our workload is more impossible than when Gates was in charge. We’ve been without a contract for more than a year. Our equipment is less than mediocre. Communications, our lifeline, is decades behind the times. Some days there aren’t enough cars to go around. We are outgunned by practically every armed criminal.

But the one overriding reason why morale has bottomed out is the gulf of distrust between management and officers.

Command staff is viewed as vindictive and petty and has lost all credibility.

A vivid example of this is a rumor that circulated before the verdicts were rendered in the Rodney King civil-rights trial. At the time, no one knew what to expect; most expected the worst. Though the rumor now seems absurd, it spread through the department, with more than a few officers willing to believe it. The rumor: Department management had decided that, in the event of a full-scale civil disturbance, a mortality rate of 25% among patrol officers would be acceptable.

That’s how much we trust management.

Most officers decry brutality and unprofessional action and are as appalled by such behavior as any right-thinking citizen. We appreciate the need for swift and severe penalties for important breaches of conduct. But since the King incident, the command staff seems to have an uncontrollable zeal to “clean up” the department. It’s as if their careers depend on proving that they are harsh disciplinarians.

Our police manual runs more than 500 pages. Everyone, from the lowest to highest ranking officer, laughs at the impossibility of following strict, inflexible department regulations to the letter in real-life situations. Any officer, on any day, could be found in violation of department policy.

The manual thus gives administrators great power, which officers feel is increasingly abused. Our every move can be held up to scrutiny on the whim of an ambitious superior or a vengeful citizen. Arbitrary discipline can cost big money and ruin careers. It kills our dedication and destroys our loyalty.

Please remember: I am speaking of no conduct that would in the least be considered controversial, no conduct that would bring a response of public outrage. I often think that if citizens only knew the resources spent on trite investigations, they would lead our revolt and be sympathetic with our discontent.

We officers are aware that Los Angeles has paid a premium for our training. Moreover, most of us want to remain a part of Los Angeles law enforcement. The job hasn’t changed; police work is as exciting and important as ever. But we deserve better than this “we’ll get you” mode that our command staff is in. If this department won’t appreciate us, maybe some other will.

With Violante as the mayor’s public-safety liaison, a man with a realistic vision of the problems in the Police Department, maybe fair priorities can again reign. Maybe street officers will stop being the scapegoats for all of LAPD’s ills. Maybe, just maybe, the department will rise out of a deep abyss. I hope so. It cannot get worse.