Police Panel Rebuffs Call From Council

In a move that may drive a political wedge between the City Council and the Los Angeles Police Department’s civilian bosses, the Police Commission has declined to add to its Tuesday agenda the lawmakers’ request to reinstate 168 officers as full-time liaisons to neighborhood groups throughout the city.

The panel’s decision raises serious doubts about whether the council will prevail in its struggle to force Chief Bernard C. Parks to revive the popular senior lead officer program, a key feature of previous LAPD administrations’ community policing strategy.

Some City Hall insiders believe that the commission is trying to assert its independence from the council, which voted 10 to 1 Wednesday to ask the civilian oversight group to order Parks to comply with the request.

If the commission delays consideration of the council’s request until after July 1, the council will no longer be able to order Parks to take action. Under the new City Charter that takes effect on that date, the council will retain only veto power over commission decisions.

Commissioners said they will consider the future of senior lead officers--but in their own time: “This is an issue that won’t go away,” said Commissioner T. Warren Jackson. “We do have some questions I think we will be asking the department to answer. . . . We understand that the council is reaching out to us in a very strong way. Ultimately, this is a Police Commission issue.”

Commission President Gerald L. Chaleff also noted that members of the Independent Review Panel are studying the senior lead officer program as part of their investigation of the Rampart corruption scandal and will include recommendations on the matter in their final report.

“The commission intends to consider this after we have all the information necessary to make a reasoned judgment,” Chaleff said. “We understand it’s our responsibility to resolve this matter. We intend to fulfill that responsibility.”

Nevertheless, council members on Friday continued their call for quick action.

“While the commission fiddles, the department burns,” said Councilman Joel Wachs. “They don’t need to wait another six months for a study to tell them that community-based policing is critical. . . . When the council asks that they consider this, that’s the least they could do.”

The commissioners “need to be thoughtful about the way they are going to handle this,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick.

“If they don’t, it horrifically damages the working relationship the commission and the council must have for the well-being of the city,” she said.

The program called for assigning officers to work as liaisons to Neighborhood Watch groups, homeowners associations and merchants to address crime issues.

However, shortly after Parks became chief he reassigned the senior lead officers to patrol jobs. He argued that he wants all police offices, not just a select few, to work closely with the community to solve problems.

Despite Parks’ assurances that he was taking steps to meet the residents’ needs, community members complained that they no longer were receiving the same response from the Police Department. At Wednesday’s council meeting, about a dozen residents spoke in favor of reviving the program.

Police Commission staff members said they were peppered with phone calls Friday from people asking if the commission had placed the matter on its agenda. When they were told that the item was not posted, the callers reportedly threatened to attend the Tuesday commission meeting.

“The Police Commission needs to be reminded that this is an issue that is important to the residents of this city,” said Councilman Rudy Svornich Jr. “They should immediately schedule the item on their agenda and take action.”