A Latino, Yes, but Not From Inside LAPD

Whatever happens with Chief Willie Williams’ severance package, the debate now is about who next will lead the third largest police department in the country. Among those jockeying for position, naturally, are Latinos. But before the moderate Latino opinion makers take us down the road of least resistance, let’s have a reality check.

While it’s true that former Chief Daryl Gates was gone when Williams came aboard, with few exceptions, the structure Gates left behind was undiminished. This included the top circle in Parker Center, the division commanders and the overwhelming majority of the rank and file, members of the conservative Police Protective League. Williams, though successful with the public and the media, was unable to penetrate that structure or the wall of racism, gender bias and misconduct built through the past three decades. These conditions were highlighted by the Christopher Commission, but the activist lawyers and community leaders who have dealt with the LAPD in the courts and political arena have known about them for years.

In this context, without his own team of promoted or appointed confidants, even if Williams had had the skill, conviction and resolve to implement the reforms, does anyone really believe he would have succeeded? At a certain moment during his tenure, he must have understood that he could not beat the odds and buckled under. “At the beginning, a group of us supported the chief, but later we observed a radical change in his public discourse,” said Jorge Gonzalez, the president of Police Watch. “He began defending the troops at all costs, including bizarre declarations that racism did not exist in the department.” Plain and simple, the chief was imported to put out the fire. When the fire was out, the waterhose was taken away.

Now, the appointment of a Latino chief would be a positive step in terms of Latino advancement and self-esteem, much like the 1992 hiring of Williams as the first African American to head the LAPD. But let’s not forget that the Williams concession took the steam out of the reform movement in that community. The larger question for Latinos is, would the naming of a Latino to be police chief bring us to more expedient implementation of police reform?

On the list of potential Latino candidates mentioned in the press, what you see is a Latino brass schooled under Gates and his predecessor, Ed Davis, not necessarily proponents of police reform or risk takers. On the burning issues of the 1990s, all have defended the status quo. My brother, civil rights attorney Antonio Rodriguez, recalls this problem with La Ley, the Latino association inside the LAPD. The Latino component within the infamous Criminal Conspiracy Squad was in charge of surveillance and infiltration of the Chicano movement in Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. This agency intimidated Chicano organizations, and some were even destroyed. Astonishingly, five years ago, the leaders of La Ley publicly supported Gates when their African American colleagues and the public were clamoring for his removal.

More recently, La Ley once again surged forward into the process, attacking Williams on the issue of Latino promotions while not criticizing his failure to implement the Christopher reforms. The Latino brass and La Ley still have not condemned the entrenched racism, the misconduct and the code of silence in the ranks of the department. On the street-vendor issue and the controversial police shooting of a 14-year-old Latino in 1995, which sparked a minor disturbance in Lincoln Heights, the Latino brass and La Ley have yet to extend an olive branch to the Latino community.

The calls from the Latino quarter for a Latino chief from within the department, although well intentioned, reveal an immature and narrow nationalist perspective, similar to the one manifested by the African American establishment of five years ago. Yes, we do need a Latino police chief in Los Angeles, but we require one with vision, sensibility and respect for the human rights of all Angelenos.

The departure of Williams is in large measure a victory for the conservative forces in the city and the LAPD. This is the sector that will benefit most by the designation of the new chief from inside the ranks.