Making Waves as LAPD Watchdog

The very mention of her name can strike fear in hearts of cops from top to bottom.

To some, she’s hellbent on hunting heads, trashing reputations and making a name for herself. To others, she’s valiantly trying to protect the integrity of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Praise or vilification, there’s no shortage of opinion when it comes to Katherine Mader, the LAPD’s first inspector general, responsible for policing the police.

“It is refreshing to have someone call it like it is,” said Edith Perez, a member of the Police Commission, for which Mader works. “She is very direct and honest about shortcomings of the department. . . . It’s no surprise she’s making people nervous.”

Mader, who completed her first year in the unique post last week, also has received plaudits from city officials, the police union and even some top LAPD brass.

But not all high-ranking department officials embrace her presence.

“She’s on a rampage,” said one high-level LAPD official, who asked to go unnamed. “She wants people to feel like she’s looking over their shoulders. And that’s exactly how they feel. She casts a very long and ugly shadow over the department right now.”

Those looking over their shoulders the most these days are the department’s top command officers, who have increasingly come under Mader’s scrutiny.

Mader, a former defense attorney and deputy district attorney with a direct, no-nonsense demeanor, has civilian oversight on all disciplinary matters at the LAPD. Additionally, she reviews all officer-involved shootings and has access to some of the most sensitive records at the department.

Recently, Mader’s duties expanded when the City Council increased the staffing in her office so she could probe allegations that the department “goes easy” on LAPD officers accused of domestic violence. She has also been asked to review the qualifications of about 180 transit police who are seeking to join the department under a merger plan with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Much is riding on how Mader performs in the position, which is essentially the investigative arm of the Police Commission. If she does well, the commission’s civilian oversight of the once-autonomous department would become firmly entrenched and legitimized. If she does not do well, the inspector general’s position could be dismissed as irrelevant and the power of the commission probably would diminish.

In the year that she’s been on the job, Mader, who does not have prosecutorial powers, has scrutinized, for various reasons, the actions of sergeants, lieutenants, captains, commanders and, as of three months ago, two of the LAPD’s top assistant chiefs accused of seeking raises they didn’t deserve.

Mader says she has “no agenda for or against” the department brass and is merely trying to overhaul a disciplinary system that has a reputation for being woefully inequitable.

After six months on the job, Mader gave her Police Commission bosses a report that suggested, through statistical research, that a double standard existed at the LAPD in which the upper echelon was not disciplined as harshly as the rank and file.

Her report also criticized the department’s method of tracking citizen complaints and its failure to aggressively root out officers who lie or cover for colleagues under a “code of silence.”

“I hate hypocrisy,” Mader said in a recent interview. “There has been a long-standing tradition of not holding command officers accountable [in disciplinary matters]. I think one of my accomplishments has been to improve the integrity of the discipline system.”

The creation of an inspector general position was a key recommendation of the 1991 Christopher Commission, which put forth a list of departmental reforms after the Rodney King beating. Reform advocates and police commissioners embraced the idea, arguing that the position would help restore the public’s trust in the department. In 1995, voters agreed, approving the position.

Similar inspector general positions are common in federal government agencies, but not on the local level. Dan Rosenblatt, executive director of the Virginia-based International Association of Chiefs of Police, says he is unaware of any major police department with an inspector general post like that held by Mader.

Working out of a nondescript first-floor office of the police headquarters at Parker Center, Mader spends her days interviewing police, reviewing internal documents and juggling dozens of department probes and problems.

Slowly, she has cultivated a network of department sources who send her messages or call her up when something seems amiss at the LAPD. Mader carries a pager in order to be summoned to the scene of major incidents, such as officer-involved shootings.

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Her manner is low-key, but intense. She’s not easily intimidated, nor is she eager to intimidate. Her authority has yet to be significantly challenged. Many department officials are waiting to see how a new chief will interact with her.

“She’s living up to the commission’s expectations,” said commission President Raymond C. Fisher. “Sure there are going to be people upset with her because they don’t like being second-guessed. But she’s not out there hunting scalps.”

Merrick Bobb, special counsel to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors who monitors the Sheriff’s Department, agrees. “She’s off to an excellent start and doing a fine job in a very difficult situation,” he said. “The LAPD has never had this level of civilian oversight and scrutiny.”

Capt. Dan Koenig, who has worked closely with Mader on one department investigation, said he found the inspector general to be “extremely intelligent, insightful, energetic and desirous of arriving at the truth.”

In addition to presenting her six-month report, Mader has:

* Prodded the department to develop and release an unusually self-critical report on former Det. Mark Fuhrman’s allegations of police brutality and misconduct.

* Reviewed the promotion of an officer--and aide to former Chief Willie L. Williams--to the rank of sergeant despite his history of discipline for serious misconduct matters, including staging a theft.

* Launched an investigation into the three captains who permitted the officer’s promotion to sergeant to move forward.

* Monitored numerous disciplinary hearings, including one involving a commander accused of making an inappropriate remark to a female subordinate. In that case, she turned over additional evidence to internal affairs investigators.

* Reviewed the demotion of four lieutenants accused of misconduct.

Because she has broad authority to investigate matters that the Police Commission deems appropriate, Mader has identified a number of issues and sought approval from her bosses to look into them.

She has asked for and received permission to monitor the background checks of officers who are expected to join the department under a proposed merger with the MTA. And, she is making sure that the department is accurately identifying all the officers who should have their guns taken away under a new federal law that prohibits anybody with a domestic violence conviction from carrying a firearm.

Her efforts have won the support of the Police Protective League, the police officers union that initially eyed her position with suspicion when she stepped into the job June 28, 1996. She has also won praise from the Oscar Joel Bryant Assn., which represents the LAPD’s black officers.

“Obviously we’re not going to agree with everything she does, but from what I’ve seen, she’s the first person who really wants to know if the discipline system is working right and working fairly,” said Gary Fullerton, one of the league’s directors.

But, he said, “She’s viewed with trepidation, and the officers are afraid of her because she’s seen as an outsider meddling in the department’s business. And the command officers see her as a threat to their kingdoms. She has a very tough job.”

Her actions have been criticized by some of the department’s most powerful and influential officers--several of whom refer to her as “the Enemy.” Even those who support her say that some of her good intentions have been thwarted or ignored.

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Critics accuse Mader of not understanding the nuances of police work, investigating rather than reviewing disciplinary matters, and exerting authority in areas that were not spelled out when the voters approved the creation of her position.

Barry Levin, an attorney who represents many of the command officers, including some who have come under Mader’s scrutiny, said he respects her but believes that her position is an “unnecessary and duplicative” level of bureaucracy.

Nevertheless, Levin said Mader is “a pioneer” who has exhibited “independence and professionalism.”

Cmdr. Maurice Moore, the president of the Command Officers Assn., said his members are concerned about the way in which Mader has conducted investigations. He said command officers feel that she has caused undue angst in their ranks with her inquiries.

He said there is merit to the inspector general’s position and believes that command officers and Mader need to develop “a good working relationship.”

Mader acknowledges that she made some missteps early on, not realizing that simple phone calls to mid-level managers and rank-and-file cops for relatively mundane department information often set off rumors that she had launched an investigation.

“I guess I did not understand the paramilitary structure at the beginning,” said Mader, who makes just over $90,000 a year. “I failed to recognize the effect of making a request.”

She has also been careless at times, critics say. Occasionally, she is seen carrying officers’ personnel files under her arms as she walks the corridors of the Police Department.

Mader, however, said any initial missteps were minor and have been corrected. She says she wouldn’t be doing her job properly if her actions didn’t ruffle some feathers--particularly when she scrutinizes promotion and disciplinary matters that have traditionally been undertaken without civilian oversight.

“The department needs shaking up; that’s why they created this position,” she said. “There’s no nuance between right and wrong.”

“I really feel I was made to do this job,” said Mader, who, as a prosecutor, investigated and prosecuted police misconduct cases. “I love my job.”

Although pleased with the progress she has made, Mader said she has a way to go toward improving the department’s discipline system. For now, though, she said she is satisfied that her office is “viewed as a real presence.”

“I think if we succeed here,” she added, “this will be a better place.”