Firing of Police Panel President Is Criticized

Mayor Richard Riordan’s firing of the Police Commission president drew criticism Tuesday, with strong rebukes coming from mayoral hopeful Antonio Villaraigosa and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, among the city’s main champions of police reform.

“This is clearly an attempt on the part of the mayor to retreat on the issue of police reform,” Villaraigosa said. “This city cannot backtrack on this issue.”

Christopher criticized Riordan’s move as “unwise and ill-timed.”

Other mayoral candidates were less critical of Riordan but nonetheless worried about the pace of reform within the Los Angeles Police Department. Only one--Steve Soboroff, who was endorsed by Riordan--explicitly supported the mayor’s decision to remove Gerald Chaleff.

The next mayor, who will take office in July, probably will have no larger or harder task than dealing with the city’s Police Department as it undertakes court-mandated reforms during a time of rising crime, declining arrests and low morale.

Riordan has taken several strong public and private stands in recent months on the LAPD, particularly as he considers his own legacy.

Beginning with a speech in November, the mayor began calling on the Police Commission and the law enforcement bureaucracy to address his three main areas of concern: morale, community policing and recruitment. On Friday, the mayor put it in even starker terms, saying the department was in crisis without leadership.

In announcing his decision Monday to fire Chaleff, the mayor said new leadership is needed at the commission if the department is to make progress in those areas.

His action drew a rare response from Christopher. In the 10 years since the commission that was nicknamed for him proposed a host of LAPD reforms in the aftermath of the Rodney G. King beating, Christopher has carefully guarded his public remarks about local policing.

Nevertheless, on Tuesday he said Riordan was wrong to dump his commission president at such a crucial juncture in the history of LAPD reform. The city recently entered into a negotiated settlement with the federal government to implement major reforms in the department.

“This is an important moment with respect to the consent decree and the selection of a monitor” to oversee those reforms, Christopher said.

In addition, he said the mayor’s action would send an inaccurate message about the problems facing the LAPD.

“It tends to, without being warranted, imply that the problems of the Police Department stem from some failure of civilian oversight,” said Christopher, who has sided with Riordan on some key local matters.

It was no secret that Riordan was dissatisfied with Chaleff over the past 18 months. Chaleff crossed paths with the mayor, Parks and others in the department over, among other things, the controversial police shooting of Margaret Mitchell, a homeless woman. He also was a strong advocate for reform in the department.

Riordan aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the mayor and his top staff also have pressured Chief Bernard C. Parks.

In his first public remarks on the issue Tuesday, Riordan said that “everybody’s job is on the line,” a not-so-subtle reference to Parks.

“I think the chief feels a lot of pressure on him now, and I think now he has got to deliver,” the mayor said. “There is a crisis we cannot tolerate. We have to get the men and women of LAPD to protect and serve the people of this city.”

All six of the major mayoral candidates say they endorse police reform and civilian oversight but differ on specifics.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) said he could only support Riordan’s action if it leads to meaningful, swift police reform.

“By moving out Gerry Chaleff, the mayor’s telling us that the Police Department is going to get off the starting block on reform,” Becerra said. “It’s a pretty bold thing to say.”

City Atty. James K. Hahn, who helped negotiate the consent decree with Chaleff and others, supported the mayor’s right to remove his political appointees. “I think the mayor has every right to do what he thinks is best,” Hahn said.

Soboroff backed the mayor’s decision. On the campaign trail and in ads, Soboroff has talked more about bolstering the department than reforming it.

“I think something had to be done,” Soboroff said. “The crime rate’s going up, arrests are going down, and morale is at an all-time low.”

State Controller Kathleen Connell, however, saw the move as a political act, rather than a genuine attempt to reform the department.

“Anyone who is not part of the City Hall political family would recognize they’re just dancing around the political arena,” Connell said. “This is just more back-room political dealing.”

Connell was referring, in part, to a private meeting held by Riordan at his home last week to discuss problems in the LAPD with some top advisors. They included Eli Broad, a rich, powerful business leader and longtime friend of the mayor.

Most of the major mayoral candidates said they will reevaluate Parks’ performance, along with those of the other city department heads, if they are elected. The primary is April 10, with a runoff expected in June.

Again, Villaraigosa sounded the strongest alarm.

“I believe that the chief has a year and a half to demonstrate that he will effectively implement the consent decree, expand community policing, raise morale and cooperate with the inspector general and the Police Commission,” Villaraigosa said.

“If he can do that, it seems to me he’s doing a good job and he should be reappointed. If he can’t, I believe this city is entitled to a chief who can.”

Most of the candidates agreed that a strong Police Commission is needed to provide civilian oversight of the department. Hahn and Becerra suggested a full-time commission president; Connell and Villaraigosa proposed additional civilian oversight in the form of review boards to deal with disciplinary matters.

City Councilman Joel Wachs, another mayoral contender, was out of town and unavailable for comment.

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Times staff writer Noaki Schwartz contributed to this story.