Williams Drops $10-Million Claim Over Leaked Data

Ending a potentially disastrous confrontation with the City Council, Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams on Wednesday said he will drop his $10-million invasion-of-privacy claim against the city, no strings attached.

“My family and I . . . have made the decision we’re going to put our interests behind those of others,” Williams said at a hastily called afternoon news conference at the department’s Downtown headquarters.

Flanked by 11 members of the council who said they were on hand to show unity with the chief and support for his decision, Williams said he will drop his claim because it had accomplished its purpose of getting the council’s attention.

“My purpose was to cause the City Council to take a serious look . . . at leaks of my personnel records,” Williams said.

He was referring to a series of news reports based on confidential files, ranging from the policy-setting Police Commission’s evaluation of his job performance to its investigation and subsequent reprimand over his truthfulness about having received free accommodations at a Las Vegas hotel-casino.

“This action was not intended, never intended, to be an issue about money,” Williams said of his claim and an earlier threat to sue over disclosures from his file.

“I wanted a meaningful dialogue” and assurances that the leaks would be investigated and efforts would be made to punish the perpetrator, Williams said.

The chief’s statements followed several days of intense talks with several members of the council eager to put the politically explosive issue behind them and get on with the tough business of expanding the police force while trying to bring about voter-approved reforms in the wake of the 1991 police beating of motorist Rodney G. King.

Sources close to the talks said Williams had sought assurances that the reprimand and his damage claim would not be held against him when his contract comes up for renewal in two years, and at one point inquired about having the city pay his $60,000 in legal bills stemming from the investigation. Williams saw that his claim was seriously cutting into his council support and was warned that it also could undermine his strong popularity among residents, sources said.

But Councilman Joel Wachs, one of the leaders in the effort to persuade the chief to drop his claim--and the first to publicity criticize Williams for making it--said the council decided in a brief closed session to take no action when it was informed of the chief’s decision.

“There were no deals, no conditions,” Wachs said. “There were a lot of rumors, but absolutely no deals.”

Wachs and the other council members he identified as key figures in reaching a resolution with the chief--Laura Chick, Mike Feuer, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters--would not discuss their conversations with Williams. Nor would Williams, although he did say he was convinced that the council is serious about its earlier promise to investigate the leaks and to find ways to protect the confidential personnel records of city employees.

“Everyone on the City Council was extremely indignant that someone took the law into their own hands” and leaked the records to a reporter, Chick said.

Last week, the council directed City Atty. James K. Hahn to launch an investigation into theleaks. Hahn said Wednesday that he will “follow every lead” but is not optimistic, given that reporters are protected by law from having to reveal their sources.

The Police Commission issued a joint statement saying the chief “made the right decision. . . . The claim did not benefit anyone, most especially not the public, not the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department, nor the chief himself.”

No commissioners attended the news conference, but they have pledged to continue working with the chief and other political leaders to improve the department.

Also absent from the news conference was Mayor Richard Riordan, who upheld his commissioners’ reprimand of Williams, and representatives of the Police Protective League, which has feuded with the chief almost since his arrival three years ago.

A league representative could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman for Riordan said the mayor felt the chief “did the right thing” in deciding to drop the claim and that he was attending an Metropolitan Transportation Authority meeting when the news conference was called. She declined further comment.

One council member complained privately that Riordan “has shown no leadership” in resolving a situation that all seemed to agree was distracting the city from the business of police expansion and reform.

And Chick noted that the behind-the-scenes efforts to resolve the claim issue is the second time in recent months that the council has had to play the role of peacemaker.

In June, after the mayor declined Williams’ request to overturn the commission’s reprimand, the chief, angrily denying any basis for the discipline, appealed to the council and threatened to sue. Eager to put the explosive issue behind it and to avoid being caught in a fight between a highly popular black chief and the Administration of a white mayor who is also popular with voters, the council decided to overturn the reprimand without looking at the record. In return, the chief promised not to sue over leaks from the file.

The matter was seemingly put to rest until The Times broke another story about the investigation three weeks ago and the chief once more initiated legal action.