Parks’ Influence on Officers

Your June 28 editorial, “What a Difference a Chief Makes,” badly misses the point. In the pre-Christopher Commission days, the Police Protective League fought against civilian oversight of discipline. This was out of fear that political appointees would taint the impartiality on boards of rights. The political climate at the time was very much anti-Chief Daryl Gates.

Today the support of civilian oversight is very much different. Chief Bernard Parks has been very open about his attempts to influence the fair and impartial hearing officers receive. Several officers have been disciplined or sent to boards of rights with little or no explanation. On a number of occasions he has called commanding officers into his office to account for their decisions at boards of rights. His actions are a direct violation of the spirit and the intent of a fair and impartial hearing.

Chief Parks is running the department like a tyrant. From his cancellation of the compressed work schedule to his reorganization of the department, he is bent on imposing his will on the rank-and-file members of the department, common sense and fairness aside. It has nothing to do with high performance and accountability. The rank-and-file officers need to be assured they will be treated fairly and with an even hand. The “escape route” to the Civil Service Commission is necessary to balance any unfair, heavy-handed discipline.

The rank and file appreciates the fact that, for the first time in a long time, we have a leader with a vision and a plan for the department. Unfortunately, his vision is very narrow and does not include room for input from the very people he is trying to lead.

JAMES MATEER, Hollywood Division, Los Angeles Police Department