Major Shuffle of LAPD Officials Expected Today

More than a dozen mid- to high-level Los Angeles Police Department officials will receive new assignments today in the next major phase of Chief Willie L. Williams’ shake-up of the force, sources said.

Some of the shifts merely formalize Williams’ controversial announcement in September that he would reorganize the department, notably the installation of Deputy Chief Ronald Banks as the LAPD’s second-highest-ranking official. Williams notified City Council members of the shifts Monday.

Although creation of a new position such as the one for Banks normally would require council approval, the announcements expected by Williams do not depend on council action. That is because of a top-level vacancy at the department, created when Williams abruptly demoted Assistant Chief Bernard Parks in September--a move that plunged the chief into the biggest controversy of his 2 1/2-year-old administration.

To complete his reorganization, however, Williams will need to submit parts of the plan to the City Council because he intends to change the department’s structure, having three assistant chiefs instead of two. The additional position will cost more, and the council has the power to consider all funding requests.

But when Williams brings that part of his proposal to the council, he will be going before a body that no longer includes a potentially difficult adversary.

On Monday, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a vocal critic of Williams, was sworn in as a county supervisor. Yaroslavsky chaired the council’s Budget Committee, but his job change ensures that the Police Department will not have to confront him over Williams’ reorganization.

Although Banks’ promotion would be the most visible of the changes, it comes amid a host of shifting assignments. Tim McBride, the popular commanding officer of the LAPD’s Air Support Division, will take over as the department’s chief spokesman, a position vacated when Cmdr. David J. Gascon was promoted to deputy chief and assumed responsibility for the department’s expansion plan.

A number of department captains also will be transferred, as will its highest-ranking woman. Detective Robert Kimball will move from Internal Affairs to Bunco-Forgery; he will swap jobs with Capt. Margaret York, the LAPD’s highest-ranking woman, who will inherit the sensitive Internal Affairs post.

Later this week, another round of changes could complete the reorganization, officials said. Those changes probably would include the promotion of Deputy Chief Bayan Lewis to the rank of assistant chief. He would be in charge of the LAPD’s Office of Operations, which oversees 80% of all officers in the department.

That move would require council backing because Lewis would become the third assistant chief in a department only authorized for two.