Police Panel Members Quit Over Captain’s Role

VAN NUYS — A dispute between the captain in charge of the Van Nuys police station and members of a citizens advisory board he appointed has led to the departure of three panelists and an internal review by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Some members of the Community-Police Advisory Board complained that Capt. Robert McNamara has tried to turn the panel into a booster club instead of the independent advisory body it was created to be.

At the center of the dispute is Police Chief Bernard C. Parks’ controversial decision in March to reassign 170 senior lead officers from serving as full-time public liaisons to patrol duties. The officers, as well as the community police advisory boards, were considered by many to be two key elements of the departments community policing program.

The controversy over Parks’ action prompted advisory board member Alan Stone to attend a protest rally as an observer. A few days later he was called into McNamara’s office.

Stone said McNamara believed he opposed the chief’s transfer of the senior lead officers, when in fact Stone was not an opponent. He said McNamara sent him a letter informing him his term wouldn’t be extended. Two board members who opposed Parks’ decision said they also left the board after McNamara made it clear he didn’t like their public positions.

The Van Nuys turmoil has caught the attention of the LAPD brass. In recent weeks, members of the board said, internal affairs investigators have interviewed them and Stone to ask if McNamara exerted inappropriate influence to quiet dissent on the panel or remove critics.

Stone and other board members said they told internal affairs officers they were treated unfairly but that McNamara didn’t engage in misconduct.