Hahn Says Police Panel Can Reinstate Lead Officers

The Los Angeles Police Commission has the authority to order Chief Bernard C. Parks to reinstate officers to full-time jobs as community liaisons, according to a legal opinion issued Friday, but commissioners say they have no plans to exercise that power.

City Atty. James K. Hahn issued the opinion and recommended that the commission reverse Parks’ decision last year to reassign 168 senior lead officers to normal patrol duties.

“The Police Commission clearly has the authority to direct the police chief to reinstate the SLO program, and I urge the commission to take that action to restore a vital element in community policing,” said Hahn, a candidate for mayor.

In addition to organizing Neighborhood Watch programs, senior lead officers worked with residents and merchants to address such crime problems as drug dealing on particular corners. They became known as the officers to call for quick action.

A majority of commissioners said Friday they have no plans to force a vote on whether to reinstate the liaison officer program before they get a report from the Independent Review Panel, which was created because of the unfolding scandal in the Rampart Division.

“It’s definitely premature to act before we get that report,” said Commission President Gerald Chaleff. The report will make recommendations on a wide range of police issues and is not expected to be released until September.

Commissioner T. Warren Jackson, who last year was chairman for a public hearing on the liaison officer program, said he would prefer to collaborate with the chief to address concerns.

Parks has rejected previous calls by public officials to return the 168 officers to liaison roles, saying he wants all police, not just a select few, to work closely with the community.

Hahn’s legal opinion said the City Council does not have the power to directly compel the chief to reinstate the program. But the city attorney’s office said that if the Police Commission votes down a motion to instruct the chief, the council could exercise powers under the City Charter allowing it to take jurisdiction of the matter and approve the order.

Councilman Joel Wachs said he will ask the council in the next few weeks to urge the Police Commission to act. If the commission takes up the matter and votes against reinstating the program, Wachs said, he will ask the council to take jurisdiction.

Hahn’s legal opinion gives a new urgency to settling the issue. When the new City Charter takes effect on July 1, the council will have the power only to veto Police Commission actions.

Neighborhood leaders who support the program praised the opinion.

“I think it’s wonderful that we finally know who can tell the chief what to do on this issue,” said Sandra Munz, the leader of a North Hollywood-based group supporting reinstatement of the program.

“We really need these officers,” Munz said. “They were our direct link to the department.”