Latino Officers Criticize Williams’ Management

With Police Chief Willie L. Williams and his lawyers privately ratcheting up the pressure on the city’s Police Commission, the organization that represents Latino officers on Friday delivered a letter criticizing Williams’ management of the Los Angeles Police Department and accusing him of overlooking qualified Latinos for promotion.

Although the letter does not directly oppose Williams’ reappointment, it accuses the chief of failing to promote qualified Latino officers and questions the department’s commitment to a racially diverse community-policing program. Together, those concerns raise new questions about support for Williams, and they inject a complicating note into the delicate racial politics of his renewal bid.

Particularly damaging to Williams is the contention by La Ley, the Latin Law Enforcement Assn., that the LAPD’s Community-Police Advisory Boards vastly underrepresent the city’s Latino population.

“It is totally inconceivable that in a city where the Latino population is 40% and [with] the undocumented Latino population may be as high as 55%, that the CPABs would only have 12% Latino representation,” the letter said. “Members of the Latino Forum have mentioned the lack of Latino representation to the chief of police on several occasions, and he has failed to make any appreciable changes.”

That letter was delivered to the city’s Police Commission on Friday, after leaders of La Ley met with Williams behind closed doors.

It comes as the commission is closing in on a final decision regarding Williams’ application for a second five-year term. Board members have until April 7 to make that decision, but Commission President Raymond C. Fisher has said he hopes the panel can act before that, perhaps by the end of February.

Accompanied by their lawyers, the chief and the commission met Thursday in what sources said was a long, contentious session.

Williams’ lawyers have said they believe the process is rigged against the chief and have hinted that they might sue the city if he is not reappointed, threats that sources said were repeated this week. On Friday, Fisher declined to comment on the meeting with Williams, but said the chief’s lawyers were complicating the evaluation process.

“The confrontational aspect of this does in fact make the process difficult,” Fisher said. “To the extent that the chief and his lawyers opt to pursue a litigation strategy, that’s their judgment.”

In addition, some Williams supporters privately suggest that the chief would consider a buyout that would pay the chief off in return for dropping his bid for a second term. So far, however, members of the City Council have not shown much appetite for that idea, and Fisher said he was not part of any effort to authorize a payment to Williams.

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It would take a majority of the 15-member City Council to approve such a payment. It would take 10 votes to overrule the Police Commission’s decision on whether to reappoint him.

On Friday, Williams’ lawyer Johnny Darnell Griggs declined to speculate on the chief’s options, saying only that Williams still wants another term.

“The chief wishes to be reappointed, period,” Griggs said. “We have not said publicly that Chief Williams would sue anyone, and a buyout is beyond his control.”

The commission has sought input from community groups, council members and others as it weighs Williams’ bid for reappointment. Among other things, the commission is considering Williams’ effectiveness as a manager and his record as an advocate of community policing.

The letter from La Ley criticizes Williams in both those areas.

In addition to noting the racial makeup of the community policing boards, La Ley’s letter accuses the chief of overlooking qualified Latinos for top LAPD jobs.

“La Ley and the chief’s Latino Forum have discussed the issue of promotions of qualified Latinos with the chief on numerous occasions in the past,” the letter said. “However, he has failed to promote qualified Latinos in a timely fashion, in some cases has failed to promote them altogether, and he has failed to promote a Latino to the important position of assistant chief.”

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Williams was not available for comment on the letter. After first commenting extensively on his quest for reappointment, the chief in recent weeks has declined to discuss the issue in public.

With a decision on the chief fast approaching, top LAPD officials are trying to reassure the public that they support the process and will back whoever is selected to lead them.

“Whatever the decision may be, the citizens of the city of Los Angeles can be assured their specific communities will remain safe and secure,” the department’s Command Officers’ Assn. said in a letter to Fisher.