City Attorney to Seek Court Action to Block Threatened LAPD Sickout

Los Angeles city attorneys will go to court Friday to try to head off a threatened sickout by some disgruntled police officers who are planning an action Monday. The city attorney’s office has sent two letters to the union warning that any union participation in a job action would violate a judge’s order issued last fall. Deputy City Atty. Arthur B. Walsh said he will appear in court Friday to head off such an action.

Some officers recently began distributing flyers promoting a three-day sickout beginning Memorial Day that they hope will force the city into a contract.

Union officials say they have nothing to do with planning job actions. But at the same time, they are not speaking out against it.

“Now would be the time to do a blue flu, but unfortunately we are not able to support that type of activity,” Police Protective League President Danny Staggs said.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams sent a memo to officers this week saying he will discipline anyone who participates in such a protest.

“It is the policy of this department to discipline any employee who engages in any job action,” he said.

Also Wednesday, Officer Gary Morgan announced that he had collected enough signatures to force Staggs into a recall election. Morgan, a Metropolitan Division officer who quit the union board earlier this month to protest its handling of the talks, called on Staggs to resign to save the union the trouble of an election. Staggs refused and other union leaders stood by him, saying the internal dissension only hurt their cause.

Meanwhile, it was learned that the union’s new chief negotiator--touted by the union as a get-tough man who will aggressively pursue the officers’ interests--was identified by the Christopher Commission in 1991 as one of the LAPD’s 44 “problem officers.”

William B. Harkness, a motorcycle officer ranked 25th on the list, has said his worst penalty was a seven-day suspension for screaming at an elderly woman during a traffic stop. He said he also received two days off for sneaking off to a Denny’s restaurant while working on a drunk-driving detail.