Parks Defends Performance, Calls Hahn Stand a Surprise

A day after Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn announced his opposition to another term for Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, the chief defended his credentials as a reformer Wednesday and said he was surprised by the mayor’s stance.

“When I hear people talk about these conflicts [with the mayor], that’s news to me,” the chief said, adding that he intends to stay on the job and await a decision on his future by the Los Angeles Police Commission. The five-member body, appointed by Hahn, is due to decide his fate in coming weeks.

“The commission has said it’s not over,” Parks said. “All I can do is believe that on face value.”

Asked why he thought Hahn didn’t want him to remain as chief, Parks, 58, was uncharacteristically brief: “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t try to evaluate. I just come to work.”

Hahn, meanwhile, further defended his stand Wednesday, even as he endured an awkward moment at a previously scheduled Black History Month celebration attended by allies of Parks. At one point, Hahn was snubbed by William Elkins, a longtime aide to the late Mayor Tom Bradley, who declined to shake his hand.

Speaking in front of City Hall later in the day, Hahn said, “I tried to make this decision on what I believe is best for the department and best for the city, and I hope that the public will look at the entire record before they come to any conclusions.”

Hahn drew support Wednesday from some leading community activists, including black civil rights attorney Connie Rice.

His announcement Tuesday that he would not support a second five-year term for Parks pleased the police union, which opposes the chief’s reappointment, but tests the mayor’s longtime support among African American leaders.

Police Commission President Rick Caruso has said the board will rely on its own, independent evaluation of the chief, not the mayor’s recommendation, to make its choice.

Parks, who had not immediately commented after Hahn’s announcement, broke his silence Wednesday, speaking on public radio station KPCC in the morning, and again in an interview with The Times in the afternoon.

Parks appeared calm and relaxed during the lengthy interview at Parker Center, and even gave the impression of being in an agreeable mood, despite the difficulty of his position.

At first he declined to speak at length, saying he didn’t want to publicly debate the mayor, but he later consented to talk in detail, seeming especially eager to discuss various aspects of reform efforts underway in the department.

Parks said he’s not ready to retire. He wouldn’t say what he might do if he loses his job, but talked about what he would do if he kept it--continue to improve police service, he said, and further improve how officers treat people.

“The reason I reapplied is that, as a public servant, I have a lot to offer the community,” he said.

The chief defended his record on implementing a federal consent decree, which mandates reforms designed in part to improve LAPD oversight of officer misconduct.

Hahn has accused the LAPD of “falling short in its implementation of reform,” faulting Parks for having opposed the consent decree and the collection of data to track racial profiling.

“He’s opposed to police reform in the context that I believe in it,” the mayor said.

Parks countered Wednesday that the department has been “striving every day to comply” with the decree, a viewpoint supported by representatives for Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, who has publicly backed Parks.

Parks further touted his reform accomplishments--especially a series of rapid changes to the LAPD’s disciplinary system in response to concerns raised by the Christopher Commission in 1991, and by other outside critics.

He dismissed the idea that reform had been sluggish under his leadership. “Anyone who would say that hasn’t watched what has happened in this department,” he said.

Parks also countered criticism that he has ignored the problem of low morale among LAPD rank-and-file officers, a central complaint of the Police Protective League. Tim McOsker, Hahn’s chief of staff, said the chief has not paid adequate attention to improving morale. The mayor “would like to see the morale issue addressed--it is one of the many jobs of a general manager,” he said.

Parks responded that the need to improve disciplinary standards is paramount and that the rapid changes the department has undergone were bound to be disconcerting to many officers.

“We are holding officers accountable for their actions. If they find that to be distasteful, I don’t think that means we shouldn’t hold them accountable,” he said. “What we are trying to do is serve 4 million people.”

Aides to Hahn said that philosophical disagreements between the mayor and the chief on such issues as community policing and discipline are significant, and argued that the end of the chief’s first term is the appropriate time to address such differences.

But Parks expressed a different view, saying he “had never had a cross word” with Hahn.

“I’m surprised--yeah,” he added, shrugging, “but that’s something you live with.”

Meanwhile, Hahn faced some of the chief’s dismayed African American allies at the Black History Month event.

The participants in the celebration, which was organized weeks ago, stuck to the program, but there was an undercurrent of tension as several of those present used the opportunity to remind Hahn of their disappointment.

His head bowed, Hahn listened as the Rev. Perry Jones of the Messiah Baptist Church gave an invocation before more than 100 people gathered in the unseasonably warm sun in a plaza outside City Hall.

Jones gave thanks to God for the integration of the LAPD and the rise of Parks through the ranks.

“Master, we thank you for the victories that we’ve experienced.”

As Jones spoke, the dignitaries on the stage bowed their heads and clasped hands. But longtime Bradley aide Elkins, who stood beside Mayor Hahn, kept his hands behind his back.

Elkins was one of about a dozen black leaders who met with Hahn over the last month, lobbying the mayor to back Parks for a second term. On Monday night, Hahn told Elkins and others that he would be going against the chief.

Elkins was scheduled to introduce the mayor, and a few moments after the prayer ended, he briefly praised Hahn’s two decades of public service, which includes a long stint as city attorney.

“Many of us are convinced that Jim Hahn will reach out to ensure that we have diversity not just in the work force of the city of Los Angeles, but in every area of our day-to-day lives,” he said pointedly.

Then Hahn rose to his feet and moved to shake Elkins’ hand. But Elkins turned and walked past him.

Speaking to reporters later, the mayor acknowledged that his rejection of the black police chief at the beginning of Black History Month was “poor timing,” but said he felt compelled to speak his mind after Parks announced his intention to seek a second term.

“I think people elect you to make tough decisions,” Hahn said.

The mayor’s actions continued to draw a diverse array of reactions Wednesday. Some black leaders characterized the move as a betrayal--a slap in the face of the African American community, which strongly supported his election.

“He’s been acting like he’s the best friend the black community ever had, and it’s a lie,” said Najee Ali, executive director of Project Islamic HOPE.

Ali was speaking at a protest demonstration in Leimert Park on Wednesday night, where about 50 Parks supporters gathered. They threatened a recall election and chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Mayor Hahn has got to go!”

But another prominent African American, civil rights attorney Rice, who once headed the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Los Angeles office, said she believes Hahn did the right thing.

While the anger at Hahn is understandable, she said, “I think the decision is the right decision.” said Rice, a frequent LAPD critic.

Rice disputed Parks’ contention that he has done much to implement recommended Christopher Commission reforms. “This department has not ever completely accepted the Christopher Commission reform mandate,” she said.

Others who spoke out in favor of the mayor’s choice included Gary Greenebaum, who served as then-Mayor Richard Riordan’s first Police Commission president.

“Given the three main criteria he listed, beginning with lack of reform, I think it was an honest and courageous decision,” he said, adding:

“This mayor has had a long, deep and personal relationship with the African American community, and it seems as though there’s no trust that he’s acting out of his convictions.”

Attorney George Kieffer, a Hahn advisor, said the mayor was worried that his decision would spark an angry reaction, but felt he had to do what he thinks is best.

Meanwhile, other city leaders urged calm, saying a rancorous debate over the chief would detract from public safety.

“We need to keep the city together,” said Miguel Contreras, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “Don’t forget, we’re still a country at war with terrorism. We need to have some stability here in Los Angeles. We need to make sure our airports are safe, our ports are safe, our citizens are safe.”

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Times staff writer Elena Gaona contributed to this story.