Reaffirm Watchdog Role

Members of the Los Angeles Police Commission and its executive director now have something very important to prove: that they have not engaged in a slow and deliberate effort to undercut one of the most crucial parts of the 1991 Christopher Commission police reform agenda. That is, a strong and independent inspector general.

The resignation Tuesday of the first person to hold that post, Katherine Mader, makes such proof essential.

The Los Angeles City Council raised the issue of the inspector general’s independence last month during the Police Commission’s successful attempt to push through a whopping 59% salary hike for the commission’s executive director, Joe Gunn. The council agreed in closed session to ask the city’s two charter reform commissions to determine whether the inspector’s post required more official autonomy. The appointed charter reform commission wants a change under which the watchdog post would report directly to the Police Commission and not to the executive director.

Among the related events that have raised concerns is the unsubtle word change in a memo, written by Gunn and signed by commission President Edith Perez, that appeared to sharply restrict the inspector’s access to complaint cases.

The commission later said the memo had been misinterpreted, but it’s disturbing that the inspector’s role was being addressed by means other than open, public discussion in a Police Commission meeting.

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has contended that an inspector will have little to do if the police chief is performing well. Sorry, but the Christopher Commission report did not contain a big asterisk with an explanation that the watchdog post is any less needed if the city has a strong and competent chief.

That said, Mader has been skillful in speaking of her own interests and the interests of the post of inspector general as if they were one, when that isn’t necessarily the case. The five-member commission, including a lawyer who has worked with Mader in the past, isn’t exactly trying to stop her from leaving. Is it simply because they all just want to be toadies for Parks? We don’t buy that. The truth, we suspect, is more complex. Mader’s resignation returns the focus rightly to the job, and the commission’s role.

Now, at the behest of City Councilwoman Laura Chick, the council’s Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing next month on whether it is in the public interest to reexamine the roles of the inspector general and the Police Commission as defined by the city charter. Clashing personalities and grievances at Parker Center aside, that’s one of the most important questions in town right now.