Police Commission Discusses Williams

The Los Angeles Police Commission met Saturday for nearly seven hours to discuss the reappointment of Police Chief Willie L. Williams, who has applied for a second five-year term.

As expected, the Police Commission did not take any action. Commission President Raymond C. Fisher, who heads the five-member civilian panel that oversees Los Angeles Police Department policy, convened the weekend session to give commissioners a chance to begin reviewing Williams’ application and to consider how well the chief lives up to a set of criteria established by the commission.

It marked the first time that the commission has met to discuss the issue without Williams being present.

“We reviewed the various inputs that we have been getting from the community and groups and we began looking at the criteria,” Fisher said after the session adjourned. “We had a lot of information to go over.”

The criteria include a wide assortment of measures intended to evaluate Williams’ performance and to determine whether he deserves a second term. But Williams’ attorneys, who have struck an increasingly contentious tone in recent weeks and have suggested that they are ready to sue the city if the chief does not receive a second term, have informed commissioners in writing that they believe the process is a sham intended to cover the board’s intention to dump the chief.

Fisher and his colleagues, who were appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan and confirmed by the City Council, hope to vote on Williams’ reappointment in the next week or two. Although Fisher had indicated that he would like to wrap up the process by the end of February, he said Saturday that the process may take longer than that, pushing a final decision into early March.

“It does take time to do a careful evaluation,” Fisher said. He said the commissioners plan to meet Thursday and Friday to continue their discussion.

If the commission votes not to hire Williams for a second term, the chief could appeal to the City Council, where it would take 10 of the 15 members to overrule the police panel. Likewise, if the commission votes to hire Williams, 10 members of the council could overturn that action.