Director Calls Mader’s Job Inadequate

The Los Angeles Police Commission’s executive director Thursday accused the panel’s civilian watchdog of shoddy work and said that commissioners were moving to fire her when she announced her resignation this week.

“The sentiment of the commission was that the overall quality of her work was not up to our standards,” said Joseph A. Gunn, the panel’s executive director. “On many occasions, in our opinion, she would start out with a conclusion and then attempt to find facts to meet that conclusion. . . . Her investigative style was not adequate.”

Gunn’s attack on Inspector General Katherine Mader came in response to statements Mader made Wednesday, complaining that her bosses had undercut her position and that the public was being defrauded into thinking the post was that of an independent watchdog.

Although Gunn said he was speaking on behalf of the commission, not all commissioners wanted him to hold a news conference criticizing Mader. At least two had expressed concerns.

“The last thing I want to do is cast mud on Kathy Mader,” Commissioner Dean Hansell said Thursday. He declined to say whether he backed Gunn’s move.

Some City Hall officials and police reform advocates said the controversy swirling around the inspector general’s post has exposed troubling personality conflicts on the commission responsible for providing oversight of the LAPD.

Those conflicts, observers say, prevent the commission from articulating a unified vision of where the department ought to go and puts it at a disadvantage in dealing with Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, a strong-willed manager who is pressing forward with his own programs.

“The commission is like a dysfunctional family,” said one police officer familiar with its deliberations.

In Mayor Richard Riordan’s office, some officials worried that the public flare-up by the commission and its staff Thursday reflected poor judgment and hurt the commission’s case. In addition, some questioned why Gunn would make his case against Mader in public, when the elected charter reform commission is just days away from taking up the issue of how much power the inspector general should have.

Some city leaders said they were dismayed that the Police Commission had chosen to disparage Mader instead of seizing her departure as an opportunity to define the position in a way that matches the expectations of the 1991 Christopher Commission, which proposed the creation of the job and other police reforms after the Rodney G. King beating.

“I’m disappointed that some have stooped to name-calling when the real issues are: ‘What is the role of the LAPD inspector general,’ and ‘Are we allowing the position to function as it needs to?’ ” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the city’s Public Safety Committee.

City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said she was shocked and angered by the events surrounding Mader’s departure.

“I think it’s just outrageous that anyone would say her work was poor,” Goldberg said. “There is no basis in fact that she was not doing a good job. It makes me very nervous that anyone would argue that.”

Further, Goldberg said she is deeply concerned by what she views as the commission’s protection of Parks.

“The whole notion of the commission is not to get the chief or protect the chief. It appears the commission believes its role is to protect the chief, which is both disappointing and completely frightening,” she said.

Mader’s resignation also may have a chilling effect on the position, Goldberg said.

“The loss is devastating not just because I think she was doing a really great job, but it’s more than that: Nobody with any integrity or any gumption is likely to put forth their nomination,” she said.

Chick has called for a special hearing of the committee next month to delve into the duties and independence of the LAPD watchdog.

Gunn said the commission is “more than willing to engage in a dialogue with city lawmakers and charter reform commissions” on what the role of the inspector general should be.

In her comments earlier this week, Mader said she plans to be a strong advocate for strengthening the independence of the inspector general’s office. She said the City Charter needs to be rewritten so the inspector general can report directly to the commission instead of the executive director. She added that the inspector general should serve a term and not be an at-will employee, and that the office should have the authority to investigate and conduct audits without first seeking approval.

Mader said she was given much more power and autonomy under a previous commission and has been reined in by the current board. Mader said the central controversy over her job was about power, not personalities.

Gunn disagreed. He said there is nothing wrong with the way the position is defined or structured.

“The Police Commission is firmly committed to the integrity of the position of the inspector general. [It] remains the most important tool in the board’s oversight responsibility of the L.A. Police Department,” he said. “We hold that position sacred.”

Before Mader’s resignation, Gunn said, the board was “proceeding down a path” in which she might have been fired.

He said that since July--when he became executive director--there have been “several incidents where the level of [Mader’s] report writing and clarity and interpretation of facts have not been up to our standards.”

Mader, he said, was never prohibited from investigating anything that she had requested to probe. However, he said, there was one case in which she conducted an investigation without the board’s approval.

“The result was a misinterpretation of facts and ignoring of facts, and a reckless abuse of innocent people’s reputations,” he said. Gunn declined to elaborate on the case, citing personnel confidentiality laws.

Gunn accused Mader of breaking a stipulation in which she and the commission agreed that neither side attack the other after she announced her resignation.

Mader, a former defense attorney and prosecutor who has written several books, was selected to become the first inspector general in July 1996, in part because of her reputation for having strong investigative skills and being thorough.

Mader, who declined to comment Thursday, said she will leave her post by Jan. 1. Attorney Deirdre Hill, a former police commissioner, has been named the interim inspector general.

Several police reformers said they are waiting to see who the commission selects as a permanent replacement.

“How the commissioners reaffirm the position and who they hire will clearly signal the direction that this commission is going,” said Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, a former Police Commission president.

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Times staff writer Jim Newton contributed to this story.