LAPD Suspends Official Over Alleged Remarks

The LAPD’s chief spokesman, Cmdr. Tim McBride, has been suspended for five days for allegedly making inappropriate remarks to two female officers, but he is appealing the suspension and his lawyer said Friday that the charges are unfounded.

The allegations regarding McBride have long been known and have become a mild source of embarrassment for Chief Willie Williams, who has vowed to crack down on sexual harassment while several of his top aides have been accused of misconduct.

In addition to the allegations against McBride, another top member of Williams’ staff is under internal investigation regarding his role in administering a promotional exam to a female officer with whom he is accused of having a relationship.

McBride, who remains on duty pending appeal, has consistently denied the charges against him, both of which date to 1995. In one instance, he is accused of saying “Hi, babe,” to a female police officer; in the other, he was accused of saying to another female officer: “Well, looking the way you do, I can see why you don’t have to.”

The women, Mary Elizabeth Hatter and Kristine Kenney, stand by their accounts. McBride declined to comment, instead referring questions to his lawyer, Barry Levin.

“He denies ever referring to Hatter as ‘babe,’ and the conversation that Kenney said he had never occurred,” Levin said. “That’s the beginning and end as far as Tim McBride is concerned.”

Levin, a former LAPD officer, added that he was troubled to see McBride suspended in a case that involved what he considers weak evidence.

“I’m appalled at the Police Department command staff who reviewed these allegations and sustained the charges on the flimsiest [of] evidence,” Levin said.

Whatever the outcome, Levin said the issue has already rattled McBride, one of the department’s most visible figures.

“It’s one thing to be the department spokesman,” Levin said. “It’s another to be the ‘spokesee.’ ”