Parks Wants Panel Interview Public

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks on Thursday asked the Los Angeles Police Commission to interview him in an open session rather than behind closed doors as they weigh whether to appoint him to a second five-year term.

In a letter to commissioners, Parks wrote that to ensure a “fair proceeding,” he would “waive any right to confidentiality of privacy I may have.”

The commission is scheduled to interview Parks on Monday, and he is expected to defend his merits as chief.

LAPD Cmdr. Gary Brennan, spokesman for Parks, said Thursday that Parks had asked for an open session because “he has received a number

Brennan said Parks plans to talk about his accomplishments as chief and his vision for a second term during the interview, “all information that the public is interested in and should have an opportunity to hear,” he said.

Police Commission President Rick Caruso said that he doesn’t object to Parks’ making his presentation in open session, but that no decision will be made until the request is cleared by the city attorney, and the other four commissioners have a chance to weigh in.

Regardless, the commission’s deliberations on the chief afterward should remain closed, Caruso said. The commission “has a right to have some level of conversation in private,” he said.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Caruso was still awaiting an opinion on the request from the city attorney’s office.

But city attorney spokeswoman Ana Garcia said that, in general, the Brown Act allows such sessions to be open if both the employee concerned and the commission agree.

“Openness in government is a good thing, and the public has a right to see democracy in action. That has always been the policy of this office,” she said.

Parks, 58, is nearing the end of his five-year term. Earlier this year, Mayor James K. Hahn announced that he opposes a second term for Parks. The decision angered many of the mayor’s most vocal African American supporters, who have rallied behind the black chief.

The Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, opposes another term for Parks.

But under the city charter, the decision falls to the Police Commission, subject to a City Council veto. The commission’s members are appointed by the mayor. The Police Commission has been weighing its decision for several weeks.

Although the commission has listened to public comments about Parks in open session, further proceedings have unfolded in closed sessions, as with other personnel matters before the panel.

In the most recent of these sessions, the chief met for more than an hour with commissioners Monday to ask for clarification on the interview process and the criteria being used to evaluate him. The meeting followed a request from Parks for more time to prepare his presentation.

Police commissioners announced in February that they would judge the chief’s performance on eight criteria, including leadership and crime control, and give the chief an opportunity to respond to each.

In his letter Thursday, Parks also asked the commissioners to provide him with research material compiled by their staff to aid in deliberations. That includes budgetary information and various statistics, officials said.

Caruso agreed to this request, and “got a large notebook” of information from the commission Thursday afternoon, Brennan said.