Wachs Makes Election Pledge to Remove Parks as Chief

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs said Wednesday that if he is elected mayor he will dump Police Chief Bernard C. Parks at the end of the chief’s term in 2002--upping the politically charged discussion about how the next mayor will deal with the head of the troubled Police Department.

Wachs’ statement came two days after Parks was confronted with another blow--allegations that he misled the public about the department’s purported attempts to bypass the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office in its investigation of the Rampart Division corruption scandal.

Parks has vehemently denied that he tried to funnel evidence in that investigation to federal prosecutors rather than turning it over to the district attorney’s office. He also rejected suggestions by the department’s inspector general that he misled the public by saying that the department was fully cooperating with county prosecutors in the criminal investigation.

“At no time was the D.A.’s office ever not given information they wanted,” Parks said Tuesday. “I will categorically state that I have not misled the public nor any member of the [Police] Commission or this department.”

With his call for Parks’ ouster, Wachs positioned himself as the mayoral candidate most critical of the chief, whose public approval has been badly damaged in the last year but who remains popular among African Americans. According to Wachs, the recent accusations about Parks’ credibility in the Rampart debate--added to other concerns--convinced him that the chief should go.

Wachs was meeting with members of The Times editorial board Monday when, in response to a question, he said that he would remove the 36-year veteran from his post when the chief’s term expires in the summer of 2002. Wachs added that he would have his police commissioners begin a search for a new chief as soon as they took office later this year to allow an entire year for a change in police administration.

Parks declined to comment, but a statement released by the LAPD press office questioned Wachs’ motives.

“Proposition F, passed by the voters in 1992, provided for the mayor to play a pivotal role in the selection and/or reappointment of a chief of police,” said Lt. Horace Frank, a department spokesman. “We would hope that any decision to select and/or reappoint a chief of police would be objectively based and not politically motivated or based.”

Although the statement did not say so directly, Wachs has courted the support of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, whose leadership and members have frequently criticized the chief. In the past, the league’s endorsement has been a coveted prize in the city’s political sweepstakes. Ace Smith, campaign manager for candidate Steve Soboroff--who also is hoping to secure the league’s support-- characterized Wachs’ action as one of “a desperate politician.”

All of the top six contenders to replace Mayor Richard Riordan have said in recent weeks that they believe Parks must markedly improve morale, hiring and oversight of police officers if he is to win a second, five-year term as chief.

Soboroff, a commercial real estate broker, had previously gone the furthest--saying that if he had to make the decision now he would not reappoint Parks. But even Soboroff left open the possibility that Parks could turn the department around and earn a second term.

Wachs was not so equivocal. Asked how he would deal with the chief if he were elected mayor, Wachs said in an interview after meeting The Times editors that a string of recent problems had damaged the credibility of Parks and the department.

The nearly 30-year city councilman, who was one of the most prominent backers of former Chief Daryl F. Gates, said he has been particularly disappointed that Parks has not done more to implement community-based policing.

He noted that Parks eliminated a system of “senior lead officers”--ranking officers assigned to neighborhoods, where they got to know residents and specific local crime problems. Although Parks has pledged to reinstate the community officers, Wachs accused him of dragging his feet.

“The department must actively embrace and reach out to the people and most officers know that,” Wachs said. “But the current administration doesn’t have a really fundamental belief in that and the desire to give more than just lip service to it.”

Wachs also cited a federal lawsuit filed last year by a former LAPD detective, who charged that his efforts against corruption in the Rampart Division were thwarted by Parks and other top officials, months before the scandal became public. That suit was followed closely by another one in which dozens of current and former officers joined a class-action alleging retaliation by the department against whistle-blowers.

“All of these things cumulatively make it very difficult to restore the confidence of the public and of the officers and to start improving the police department,” Wachs said.