Gascon Uses His Candidacy as a Forum to Urge Respect for Police

He’s been referred to as the Guy Who Arrested O.J., the face of the Los Angeles Police Department and, in light of his tough attitude toward office malingerers, Slug Killer.

Lately, Deputy Chief David Gascon has picked up an additional nickname: Half.

It’s a term that was bestowed upon him by former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, who had quipped that city leaders are focused on only “two and a half” candidates for the vacant police chief’s job--Deputy Chiefs Bernard Parks and Mark Kroeker, the front-runners, and Gascon, whom Gates believes doesn’t stand half a chance.

Nevertheless, Gascon--the former LAPD spokesman who is often remembered as the man who told the world June 17, 1994, that then-murder suspect O.J. Simpson was on the lam--has used his quest for police chief as an opportunity for getting out his message: Police don’t get enough respect.

“The important thing is that the public has to know the reality of what police officers are faced with every day,” Gascon said. “They need to know the commitment and the diversity of the employees and how difficult the job is. I will continue to educate the public about that.”

Gascon, Parks, Kroeker and three other semifinalists are being interviewed by the Police Commission, which will forward the names of three finalists to the mayor by the end of the month. The new chief will be selected by the mayor, with City Council approval.

Gascon’s supporters say that with his swarthy looks and glib style, he certainly has the posture of a leader. Whether his leadership abilities match his image, however, remains in question, some observers say.

The deputy chief admits he faces an uphill battle convincing the Police Commission and Mayor Richard Riordan that he should get the job.

But even those who say he is unlikely to be named chief say his candidacy should be taken seriously.

“[The Police Commission has] zeroed in on two candidates and have left out a lot of good people, like Gascon,” Gates said.

“A lot of people feel that during the Simpson thing, he projected an aura of confidence and reliability that put the department in very good stead,” said another source familiar with the inner workings of the LAPD. “I don’t think he’s seriously in the running now. But I do think he has some real chief potential.”

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Gascon--who is currently the LAPD’s chief of staff working on special projects for Interim Chief Bayan Lewis--joined the LAPD in 1971. In April 1992, he was put in charge of the Metro Division, the department’s elite tactical group that includes the SWAT team. Then in December 1992, Gascon was named head of the public information office, serving as spokesman for the department on topics ranging from the Michael Jackson molestation case to the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

But the most notable appearance was the news conference Gascon gave the day Simpson failed to turn himself in. With Police Chief Willie L. Williams out of town, Gascon addressed reporters to break the news.

“The Los Angeles Police Department right now is actively searching for Mr. Simpson,” Gascon said at the time, eliciting a gasp from the crowd of reporters. Without missing a beat, he continued: “The Los Angeles Police Department is also very unhappy with the activities surrounding his failure to surrender.”

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After that international exposure, he became so well known that strangers began stopping him.

“It’s amazing the things that have happened to me because of that press conference,” Gascon said. “I’ve had so many people come up to me on the street. . . . One boy pointed at me and said, ‘Hey, you’re Cmdr. Gascon. How does this sound?’ He started going through verbatim everything I said in the press conference. It was stunning to me.”

It’s the sort of celebrity status that he did not expect he would ever find when he signed up to be a member of the department. Someone put his picture on a series of O.J.-related trading cards, which collectors sent to him requesting autographs. (Gascon respectfully declined, saying he didn’t want to capitalize on the case.)

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“My first name will probably forever be Commander,” he said. “I hear that wherever I go. . . . Maybe it would be good to become chief because at least they would have to call me something different.”

Gascon said he is seeking the chief’s job in part to put forth some of his ideas.

His first order of business: Win the confidence of the Police Commission and city leaders.

“We should aspire to be all those things the Police Commission would like us to be, they’re the policy head of the department,” he said. “But there are so many other stakeholders. . . . A major accomplishment in the first year would be to try to get all those stakeholders to have confidence in the management of the department to do the right thing.”

Next, Gascon says he would work to make the city safer, something he hopes to accomplish through expanded community-based policing programs.

“We should never let things get to such a point that this is an unfit place to live,” Gascon said.

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And finally, he said he would work to build morale, while making sure officers are doing their jobs.

“I’m really intolerant of people who don’t want to work,” Gascon said. “They have a responsibilities to taxpayers.”

One year, a group of officers working for Gascon got together and gave him a box of snail and slug killer for Christmas.

“I said, ‘What’s this?,’ ” Gascon said. “They said, ‘It’s cause you’re a Slug Killer. You don’t allow people not to do their jobs. . . . I think you have to be that way.

“I’ll be dammed if I allow the hard-working employees of this Police Department get blasted for the activities and lack of commitment of the very few people. . . . If you are one of those who don’t carry your load, you are always going to have a problem with me.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Candidate Profile: David J. Gascon

Age: 47

Residence: San Pedro

Education: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Cal State Long Beach; master’s in management from Cal Poly Pomona.

Career highlights: Joined LAPD in 1971; served as commander in charge of the Metro Division; became a deputy chief in 1994; was LAPD spokesman in Northridge quake aftermath and during O.J. Simpson case.

Interests: Golf, watching hockey and Indy car racing; a self-described “news junkie.’

Family: Separated; four children, ages 18, 17, 15 and 13.

Quote: “I’ve had people say things like, ‘I’ll never forget you because you’re the guy who arrested O.J.’ I say, ‘I didn’t have anything to do with that.... I was just the spokesman for the department.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Q&A;

Define community policing. What would you do to implement it?

“Part of the problem with community policing is how you define it and what expectations you create for it. Unfortunately in today’s environment, we end up with people--for whatever reason--wanting to sell community policing as if it’s the cure for cancer, and it’s not. On the other hand, it truly is the foundation, the historical foundation, for how we have always done law enforcement in the United States.... It’s always a partnership with the community. You have to have close cooperation to identify problems.’

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How would you gauge police productivity? What role do arrests play in that area?

“You can tell by visually inspecting a community, by going out and doing surveys. You can tell by listening to the elected officials. You can tell by talking to the business groups, and by listening to the clergy.... Is there a drop in crime? What about traffic problems and traffic deaths? Are they dropping? Are you making arrests?.... All these things are independent indicators that will give you a general impression of what’s going on.’

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What would you hope to accomplish in the first year of your administration? What key reforms still need to be made?

“I think there needs to be a recognition of how difficult it is to be a Los Angeles police officer.... A major accomplishment in the first year would be to try to get all those stake-

holders to have confidence in the management of the department to do the right thing.... While you are doing all that, you have to be successful in dealing with crime, reducing injury accidents, making sure you are also going out and dealing with the community at large. The first year, you have to go after all of that. As a matter of fact, whoever gets this job has to be able to move forward five minutes after they get sworn in.’

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How would you deal with racism, sexism and discrimination within the department?

“The problems do exist. We do hire the best people we can select. We do provide the best of training. I believe we provide the best of supervision. But none of those things are perfect. The message has to be clear and convincing that you mean business when dealing with these issues.... When the chief of police sets the tone, it ensures that the commanding officers set the tone.’

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How would you hold captains, lieutenants and sergeants accountable for police effectiveness?

“We tell everyone: ‘Here’s what the job is. We trained you to do it and we expect you to do it it this way, and when you don’t do it this way, there needs to be an explanation.... And if it was because you were lazy, or it’s because you didn’t want to do it, then you have a real problem with me.”