Commission Chief Sought Independent Reform Role

From the start, Gerry Chaleff was engaged in a delicate high-wire act as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Chaleff is a liberal criminal defense lawyer who believes in an independent Police Commission that scrutinizes the LAPD’s conduct and pushes top brass to reform the department.

But the man who appointed him to the commission--Mayor Richard Riordan--had a fundamentally different vision of the commission president’s role, according to many observers. Some people close to the situation believe that divergence ultimately led to Chaleff’s firing on Monday.

Riordan believed that the commission should show considerable deference to Chief Bernard C. Parks, an old and trusted friend of the mayor.

“There was a disconnect between what the mayor said about Chaleff’s independence and what he wanted,” a veteran police insider said. “Chaleff did not appreciate enough Riordan’s friendship with Parks.”

The mayor’s staff disputes that point of view. Instead, they say Chaleff was removed for failing to do enough to improve morale, recruitment and community policing.

Nonetheless, Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Califonia, said that Chaleff had walked a fine line in trying to reform the department without alienating Parks or the mayor, to the chagrin of some of his liberal allies. She described Chaleff as the strongest advocate for reform on the commission.

“Once the reform effort got started, Gerry knew the mayor wanted to fire him. He tried to do what he could to implement reform but not get fired,” Ripston said.

Chaleff, Mayor Clash Over Rampart

Over the past 18 months, Chaleff and the mayor clashed over several key issues. Riordan disagreed with Chaleff’s contention that a federal consent decree was the best way to ensure change within the department in the wake of the Rampart corruption scandal. The mayor also was displeased when the commission, led by Chaleff, voted 3-2 to declare that the shooting of Margaret Mitchell was out of policy.

Chaleff, 59, was appointed to the commission in 1997. His lengthy career as a prominent criminal defense lawyer--who represented Hillside Strangler Angelo Buono Jr.--made him an unusual pick.

Riordan tapped Chaleff at the urging of Los Angeles attorney Bill Wardlaw, at the time his closest advisor. Parks was officially neutral, but sources said at the time that he did not trust Chaleff. Other police officials expressed dismay at the idea that Riordan would have chosen a man who represented Buono, a serial killer.

Nonetheless, the mayor expressed confidence in Chaleff and his colleagues on the commission elected him president in July 1999, just a few months before the Rampart scandal exploded. At the time, Parks told confidantes he was unhappy with the choice.

Chaleff’s dismissal will have at least one major immediate impact: He will have no role in selecting the person who will monitor the LAPD under the recently signed consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department.

Ripston, among others, speculated that denying Chaleff a role in that decision was a motivating factor for Riordan.

Deputy Mayor Ben Austin stated emphatically that that was not a factor in the mayor’s decision.

Chaleff’s departure was lamented by Richard Drooyan, the attorney who headed the Independent Rampart Review panel, which recommended numerous police reforms to the commission.

“I am sorry to hear of this decision,” said Drooyan. “Gerry gave us a mandate to conduct an independent investigation. He pledged that we would be independent and he kept that pledge.”

But Mitzi Grasso, president of the officers union, the Police Protective League, said she was pleased that Riordan cashiered Chaleff.

Grasso said that Chaleff made “unwarranted assumptions” about the breadth of the Rampart scandal and had not spent enough time getting to know rank-and-file officers.

Chaleff disagreed on both counts. He said that during his 33 years working in the criminal justice system in Los Angeles--two as deputy district attorney, four as a public defender and 27 years in private practice--that he had gotten to know many police officers, particularly homicide cops.

As for Rampart, Chaleff said, “I made no assumptions . . . other than there was a problem and that we needed to do as full an investigation as possible.”

Indeed, during the past year and a half, Chaleff was the subject of some criticism from liberals who felt that he did not take a sufficiently tough public stance after the Rampart revelations started to emerge.

“The people I work with felt he was not outspoken enough, didn’t criticize the chief enough, didn’t criticize the mayor enough,” said Ripston. Added USC constitutional law professor Erwin Chemerinsky: “The civil liberties community was very upset that Gerry did not push harder on Rampart.”

But Chaleff, a forceful courtroom advocate, said, “You have a different role when you are president of the Police Commission. There is a long-term goal: fundamentally important, meaningful police reform. That is what I was striving for.”

“I strongly believe the Police Commission must be an independent civilian oversight body free from politics,” Chaleff said. “When I was appointed to the commission in 1997, the only instruction I received from the mayor was to do what I believed was right and that is what I have always tried to do.’

Chaleff’s longtime friend and former law partner Gigi Gordon said he tried to build consensus on the commission for change.

“Gerry sees himself as the ambassador to all nations and to some degree that is required in the job,” she said.

Chaleff’s Background Sparked Controversy

Some observers said that Chaleff’s career as a defense attorney--whose work frequently involved attempting to discredit the testimony of police officers--made him a marked man from the start.

“Almost every step Gerry took was certain to stir controversy,” said Los Angeles lawyer Jan Lawrence Handzlik, a former federal prosecutor who served on the Christopher Commission and the independent Rampart panel.

“In seeking LAPD reform, Gerry made a substantial contribution to the city and deserves our thanks,” Handzlik said. “However, as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.”

Chaleff played a key role in negotiating the consent decree with attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice. During that time he was receiving treatment for prostate cancer, which is ongoing.

He has lived in Los Angeles most of his life, graduating from Hamilton High School and UCLA before gaining acceptance to Harvard Law School in 1963.

Always interested in politics, Chaleff became friendly some years ago with attorneys Wardlaw and his wife, Kim, who played key roles in Riordan’s 1993 election. At Wardlaw’s urging, the mayor appointed Chaleff to the city’s Information Technology Commission, then to the Planning Commission and finally to the Police Commission.