Williams Assails Critics of LAPD

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams lashed out at critics Tuesday, defended his department’s handling of police complaint files, and admitted that the LAPD is battling problems in its management of statistics--all during an emotional meeting of the Police Commission that was interrupted by a bomb scare.

In addition, Williams emphasized to commissioners and reporters that he has yet to make a formal recommendation on how to resolve the department’s internal investigation of former Det. Mark Fuhrman, and he bitterly criticized members of his department who shared information about that probe with The Times.

“I think these few individuals have disgraced . . . themselves,” Williams said.

The chief would not comment on the status of the Fuhrman investigation, but sources familiar with it say department officials have been unable to find evidence that the detective brutalized suspects or duped Internal Affairs investigators as he alleged in taped conversations with an aspiring screenwriter.

The investigation has uncovered new details about Fuhrman’s alleged connections to a loose-knit group of officers known as Men Against Women, and those details could support a reprimand for the now-retired detective, sources said. Williams refused to confirm or deny those details, but LAPD investigators briefed commissioners on the probe Tuesday.

Afterward, newly elected commission President Raymond C. Fisher said that the investigative work on the case has been concluded and that the findings are being reviewed by members of Williams command staff. A final recommendation by the chief will be sent to the commission in early September, Fisher said.

Williams’ agitation over the Fuhrman issue was matched later in the commission meeting when he accused members of the media of distorting the department’s handling of miscellaneous memos, internal LAPD documents that are used to resolve certain kinds of personnel complaints.

Department officials failed to produce dozens of those files when the commission’s special counsel asked for them, raising suspicions among some commissioners and others about whether the department was trying to hide the material. Although the department has refused to make the material public, the suspicions about it hiding the documents from the special counsel were dispelled when LAPD officials turned the files over to him.

Despite the miscommunications and record-keeping problems that generated that confusion, Williams said the media was to blame for misleading the public and said reporters owed the LAPD an apology.

This time, however, Williams was brought up short by commissioners and their lawyer. Fisher warned Williams that the LAPD fostered distrust by continually releasing bad statistics.

Special Counsel Merrick J. Bobb told the chief: “When you give out radically different answers to what seem to be identical questions, the department opens itself to this type of criticism.”

Stung by Fisher’s reproach, Williams responded by denying that he was feeling embattled.

“I’m not being defensive,” the chief insisted. “I’m being offensive in terms of my position.”

He then went on to acknowledge that the department is battling problems in its management of statistics. He supported a proposal by Commissioner Edith Perez to establish a centralized LAPD repository for statistical data.

“We’ve already talked the last month or so about trying to set up an interim system . . . to manage the multitude of sources,” Williams said.

The chief said he will report to the commission in the near future on the progress toward establishing a more efficient data management system. That may not be a moment too soon: Commissioners had scheduled a public discussion of the department’s handling of arrest statistics for Tuesday, but they withdrew it from the agenda at the last minute.

Tuesday’s meeting was interrupted when police discovered a suspicious package at police headquarters. The first floor of Parker Center, where the commission offices are located, was evacuated and the package was removed.