Black Political Leaders Urge Union to Quit ‘Bashing’ Parks

Key figures in the Los Angeles black political community, including two members of Congress and all three black City Council members, called Monday for the city’s police union to stop “bashing” Police Chief Bernard C. Parks.

Warning of racial discord if nothing is done, the African American leaders also urged Mayor James K. Hahn to call a meeting between Parks and Police Protective League officials to iron out their differences.

The move shows an early determination in the black community to support the black police chief, who must decide by February whether to ask Hahn for a second five-year term as police chief.

Participating in a news conference were Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Diane Watson, Councilman Nate Holden and several ministers and civil rights leaders. Later associating themselves with the group were council members Mark Ridley-Thomas and Jan Perry.

Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said Hahn “will convene a meeting between the chief and the union.”

“The mayor’s concern is for the morale of the rank-and-file officers and for the public safety, and conflict between the chief and the union does not advance the goal either of improving the morale or increasing the safety of our neighborhoods,” Middlebrook said.

But it is premature to speculate about a second term for Parks, he said.

Mitzi Grasso, head of the Police Protective League, which represents 8,300 police officers, said the league has already “called for a change of leadership” at the LAPD and doesn’t see any point to the kind of meeting the black political leaders want.

“This isn’t about Parks, the man,” Grasso said. “This is about leadership style. . . . Really, our position is we need a new leadership style.”

“I don’t see why the mayor needs to get us together,” she said. “We’ve asked Parks to work with us a number of times. He’s refused.”

The new head of the Los Angeles Police Commission, Rick Caruso, said a meeting between Parks and league representatives “would be a good idea,” although the relationship may have deteriorated beyond repair.

An outside expert on LAPD issues, USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, said the black community leaders were “trying to put political pressure on the mayor, who was elected in large part because of black community support, to reappoint a black police chief.”

But at the news conference, speakers focused simply on their support of Parks.

Waters said the leaders want to avoid additional “undermining” of the chief by the union. She said she doesn’t agree with Parks on everything but believes he has worked hard to avoid “polarizing situations” in Los Angeles.

Ridley-Thomas said later, “We will be extremely hard-pressed in Los Angeles to find a candidate better suited, more fit for the task, than the incumbent police chief.”

A spokesman for Parks, Lt. Horace Frank, said Parks “is certainly appreciative for the support he is receiving.”

But, he said, Parks will not say whether he is seeking a second term.

“The chief of police doesn’t work for the Protective League,” Frank said. “He works for the people of Los Angeles.”