Former Head of Police Panel Won’t Appeal His Firing

Gerald L. Chaleff said Tuesday that he will not appeal the mayor’s decision to fire him from the Los Angeles Police Commission, but instead will seek to continue his work on police reform as a consultant to the City Council.

“If I were to appeal my removal to the City Council, it would further distract from the ultimate objective of meaningful reform of the LAPD,” said Chaleff, who had served as president of the commission since 1999.

Mayor Richard Riordan fired Chaleff from the city’s volunteer civilian Police Commission last Monday, citing a need for new leadership to boost officer morale, fight rising crime and increase the Los Angeles Police Department’s recruiting efforts. However, Riordan’s critics said the mayor was trying to scuttle reforms put in place by Chaleff and others in the wake of the Rampart scandal. They also questioned why Riordan was blaming Chaleff for the department’s shortcoming and not Chief Bernard C. Parks, who was recently granted two 5% merit raises by Riordan.

A number of city officials had urged Chaleff to appeal the firing to the council, which could have reinstated the former commissioner with 10 votes. After considering his options for several days, Chaleff said Tuesday that he believed fighting Riordan’s decision “would not be in the best interest of the citizens of Los Angeles.”

“Even if I were to regain my position as a member of the Police Commission, every action I took or suggestion I made would be viewed through the prism of the political and personal struggle that had occurred,” Chaleff said. “I would be on the commission with the opposition of the mayor and the resistance of the chief of police. I would be used by those who are opposed to reform to justify their resistance.”

A spokesman for Riordan said Tuesday that the mayor was “grateful” for Chaleff’s service, but was eager to move forward on morale, recruitment and community policing. Riordan is expected to name Chaleff’s replacement within days.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, head of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said she will introduce a motion today asking her colleagues to appoint Chaleff as a consultant to help the council pick a monitor and negotiate the process of implementing the provisions outlined in the recently filed federal consent decree.

The consent decree was originally opposed by Riordan and Parks, but city officials agreed to the reforms--including better oversight and training and a ban on racial profiling--after the U.S. Justice Department threatened to sue the LAPD for engaging in a “pattern or practice” of civil rights abuses.

Chaleff was part of a four-member city team that spent months negotiating the consent decree with Justice Department officials.

“At this point, no one can step in and take his place,” Miscikowski said.

Councilman Mike Feuer agreed.

“He was so deeply involved in the details, he will provide invaluable continuity as we work our way through implementation of the consent decree,” Feuer said.

Riordan appointed Chaleff, 59, to the five-member commission in 1997. He has been president of the panel since July 1999, and had anticipated stepping down in July, when Riordan leaves office.

With Chaleff off the commission, some council members said they are concerned that the panel might fall behind in its efforts to implement reforms.

One official said she was troubled that the commission’s acting president, Raquelle de la Rocha, delayed a presentation on Tuesday by a working group from the Rampart Independent Review Panel.

De la Rocha canceled the briefing because, she said, the commission is committed to enacting reforms and doesn’t need another presentation about them.

“We only have four months left,” she said, referring to the board’s tenure. “It’s a waste of people’s time to tell us what we already know and what we are already working on.”

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Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this story.