Hahn Opposes Second Term for Chief Parks, Sources Say

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn has decided to oppose Police Chief Bernard C. Parks’ bid for reappointment, arguing that Parks has not done enough to fight crime, reform the LAPD, or strengthen relations between police and residents.

A day before Parks announced his decision to seek a second, five-year term, Hahn informed the chief that he would not back him, sources familiar with the conversation said.

The final call on Parks’ fate rests with the city’s civilian Police Commission, whose members were appointed by Hahn and confirmed by the City Council.

Late Monday afternoon, Hahn shared his decision with a dozen African American community activists, religious leaders and political officials who have been lobbying him to support Parks. Those participants, according to two who were there, tried to talk Hahn out of his decision but left disappointed and angered that the mayor was moving against a chief whose work they admire.

“I’m very, very upset,” John Mack, president of the Urban League, said after the meeting.

On Jan. 30, sources said, Hahn told the chief that he was disappointed with the LAPD’s lack of progress in implementing a federal consent decree that mandates reforms of the LAPD and in improving community policing. In addition, the mayor expressed concern about the rising crime rate and the number of officers leaving the department, according to people who were told of the meeting by the participants.

Hahn suggested that rather than seek another term, Parks should take credit for a successful career and retire.

Parks delivered his public response 24 hours later, when he announced to a room full of supporters at a Hollywood club that he was seeking a second term as chief. By charter, the city’s police chief is limited to two terms. The only other chief covered by that charter provision, Willie L. Williams, was denied a second term.

On Monday, LAPD Cmdr. Gary Brennan said Parks would not comment on the meeting. Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said the mayor had no comment as well.

The mayor’s decision to oppose Parks--which he is expected to make public today--puts the chief in an awkward professional and political position. Should the Police Commission, whose members were appointed by Hahn, decide to back the chief over the mayor, Parks would return for another term but be given the task of carrying out the wishes of a chief executive who had publicly urged him to go. Similarly, the mayor’s decision creates a difficult choice for the Police Commission, which has vowed to act independently but now must risk antagonizing the mayor who appointed its members or appearing to cave to pressure from the mayor’s office.

The commission has said it intends to vote on Parks’ reappointment this spring. His term ends in August.

Police Commission President Rick Caruso said Monday that he is interested in the mayor’s perspective, but added that he will weigh Hahn’s opinion no more heavily than anyone else’s.

“‘I would certainly like his opinion, mostly because he’s the mayor and he’s had 20 years of experience working with the chief,” Caruso said. “But it’s not going to influence how I make my decision, nor do I think he would want it to.”

For Hahn, who has said he would refrain on commenting publicly regarding the chief’s reappointment until the process had begun, the political implications of his position also are far-reaching.

Hahn and his father--a longtime county supervisor--have enjoyed staunch support from African American voters for decades. Parks, who is African American, also enjoys significant support among those same voters.

In recent weeks, activists, officials and religious leaders in the city’s African American communities have been mobilizing campaigns in support of a second term for the chief.

On Monday afternoon, Hahn spent almost two hours explaining his position to a dozen leaders gathered at the Wilshire Boulevard office of basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

Those attending included Johnson and his business partner Ken Lombard; county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke; Rev. William Epps; Rev. Frederick Murph; Geraldine Washington, head of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP; Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade; and Bill Elkins, a longtime advisor to former Mayor Tom Bradley. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) participated via speakerphone.

“What disappointment from every segment represented at the table,” said Rev. Cecil Murray, who attended the meeting.

Mack said Hahn’s decision could prove divisive for the city and will hurt the mayor’s relationship with his black constituents.

“I think there’s going to be a great deal of anger and, perhaps in some quarters, surprise, and a sense of betrayal, given the tremendous support that Mayor Hahn received from this community,” Mack said.

If opposing Parks may alienate some supporters of the chief, the mayor’s decision puts him in alliance with the Police Protective League, the union that represents the rank-and-file officers. The police union has led the campaign against the chief.

Even as Hahn is expected to make his position public today, the union is preparing to launch the next phase of its campaign to oust Parks.

The league announced Monday that it will begin running television and radio ads saying crime is up and that reform of the department has stalled.

“L.A.’s police chief asked all of us to judge him by his performance,” a script for the television ad reads. “We think you should do just that.”

Hahn has repeatedly called on the union to stop its campaign, and several members of his staff have met with league officials to urge them to lower their rhetoric.

For Hahn and Parks, the split over the chief’s reappointment comes after a series of issues on which they have disagreed.

When Hahn was city attorney, the two men took different positions in the city’s negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department for a federal consent decree mandating reforms of the LAPD.

The chief opposed that decree, while Hahn’s office took the lead in negotiating it.

After he became mayor, Hahn, over the chief’s objections, pushed for a flexible work schedule for police officers, allowing them to work three- and four-day weeks. That fulfilled a campaign promise that Hahn made and that helped him secure the endorsement of the Police Protective League in last year’s election.

In recent weeks, the mayor has said publicly that he would come to a conclusion about Parks based on his performance and would not be influenced by political pressure.

“It’s one of those great political no-win situations and, if you can’t win either way, then the best thing to do is always to do the right thing, do what is the right decision anyway,” Hahn said last week on the “Ask the Mayor” radio call-in show. “If you try to guess the political outcome of any decision you make, you’re probably going to do wrong most of the time.”

According to sources familiar with the conversations between the two men, Hahn warned the chief at an earlier meeting that he was leaning toward opposing his reappointment.

In a meeting Jan. 21, Hahn told the chief he was worried that the LAPD was not doing enough to retain officers. By the end of 2001, there were about 8,900 officers on the street, 1,200 less than authorized in the department’s budget.

The mayor also said he is concerned about the recent uptick in crime. Although crime has declined dramatically during the last decade, it has increased in the last two years, with violent crimes up 17.3%.

Last Wednesday, officials said, Parks called Hahn to let him know that he had decided to seek reappointment. The mayor asked him to come to City Hall to discuss the matter, and the two met in the mayor’s private office for at least two hours, sources said.

At one point in that conversation, according to those whom the mayor and chief told about it, Hahn accused Parks of not being a members of the mayor’s team and suggested that Parks consider retiring.

The meeting ended soon after that exchange, the sources said. The next day, at a party celebrating his 37th anniversary in the department, Parks told friends and family members, along with reporters, that he wants another five-year term.

“As we look to the future, and it’s not going to be an easy future, we look to be a part of this administration and the vision of it has,” Parks said. “We look to be a part of what Mayor Hahn has in store for the city of Los Angeles.”