Pace of LAPD Reform Is Hit on Two Fronts : Police: Officers union says training needs to be improved. Civil rights activists question Riordan’s commitment to Christopher Commission’s suggestions.

In a pair of news conferences Thursday, the union representing Los Angeles police officers and a collection of civil rights organizations complained about the pace of police reform, although they disagreed about who was to blame.

Leaders of the Los Angeles Police Protective League said the management of the Police Department has dawdled on important reforms, in particular the need to improve training for officers.

Civil rights leaders, meanwhile, faulted new Mayor Richard Riordan for failing to clearly state his commitment to reforming the department and said his recent appointment of William C. Violante as deputy mayor for public safety sends “an ominous signal” to groups that support major changes in the LAPD.

Violante, a former president of the police union, was appointed to the deputy mayor post last week, and since then has been embroiled in controversy. Many department critics see the union as unreceptive to reform, although union leaders insist that they are supportive and that Violante strongly backs many recommendations of the Christopher Commission.

While police officers and LAPD critics sounded off, Riordan held a news conference of his own and, in response to a question, pledged his commitment to police reforms without going into detail.

Asked if he is committed to reforming the department, Riordan said: “I’ll make (the commitment) right now. And Mr. Violante has also made that pledge.”

Leaders of the civil rights groups--including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund--were not satisfied. They asked Riordan to make a commitment to implementing all of the reforms recommended by the Christopher Commission.

“We want to hear from Mr. Riordan directly: Does he support the Christopher Commission reforms?” ACLU legal director Paul Hoffman said during an afternoon news conference outside LAPD headquarters. “Does he support all of the Christopher Commission reforms?”

Joe R. Hicks, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, said he and other civil rights leaders are disappointed in Riordan’s early appointments, especially that of Violante, which he said “sends a very dangerous signal about where this mayor may be headed on the issue of police reform.”

Hicks, Hoffman and other civil rights leaders expressed strong support for Police Chief Willie L. Williams, whom they believe is firmly behind the efforts to reform the LAPD.

But police union leaders blamed Williams and LAPD brass for failing to implement key Christopher panel recommendations to improve officer training.

“Nothing has changed,” said Sgt. Charles L. Duke, who testified on behalf of the officers accused of violating Rodney G. King’s civil rights and who announced his candidacy for a post on the union board Thursday. “Not one thing.”

Duke, who has been barred from teaching LAPD officers how to use force and has filed a grievance to protest that move, said officers are being required to adhere to guidelines they are not trained to carry out. For instance, he said officers are told that the department’s use-of-force policy includes a technique known as the “swarm” but that only a fraction of all officers have learned how to perform the maneuver.

Duke called for a program of union-run seminars on the use of force.

As various groups called for reforms of the LAPD, much attention focused on the question of who Riordan will appoint as his five police commissioners. Rumors have swirled for more than a week, and Commission President Jesse A. Brewer has been the object of the most intense interest.

Brewer has told some associates that he does not expect to be reappointed, but he is well-liked by many LAPD officers as well as by some critics of the department. Hoffman said that if Riordan failed to reappoint Brewer, it would redouble concern about the mayor’s commitment to reform.

Riordan said Thursday: “When you see the appointments to the Police Commission, I think everybody will be very proud of the diversity it represents.”