Short List Creates Divide in the Ranks of LAPD

The Los Angeles Police Department is home to 9,000 police officers, from the 39 newest graduates of the academy to veterans whose experience includes some of the best and worst times in the storied department’s history.

As news of the Police Commission’s decision to tap three outside candidates as finalists to lead the LAPD spread Friday, the rank and file absorbed the names with reactions that often varied by tenure and rank.

For some of the LAPD’s most senior officials, the list--William Bratton, former New York police commissioner; Art Lopez, chief of the Oxnard Police Department; and John Timoney, former Philadelphia police commissioner--was a blow to career ambitions nurtured over decades. And those officers were stung by the omission of anyone currently in the department, including any one of them.

For new recruits, by contrast, the rejection of the LAPD’s own candidates carried no particular weight, and the prospect of a new dawn for the Police Department inspired confidence.

And for those in the middle ranks who have worked through the department’s difficulties and relished its bright moments, the candidates for chief produced a more complicated set of reactions. Some worried that it reflects a loss of confidence by the city leadership in their work, and several said they hope Mayor James K. Hahn will pick Lopez, the only one of the finalists who has experience with the LAPD.

The generational split was evident at the Police Academy in Elysian Park, where deputy chiefs and other commanders gathered for the graduation of the LAPD’s newest class.

Before the graduates accepted their honors, however, a group of the top brass assembled inside for a subdued breakfast, punctuated by flashes of dark humor. One deputy chief was told he should have gone to New York for a couple months before applying for the top job.

“Maybe in the upper ranks there will be some disappointment,” said Capt. Sharyn Buck, “but you know what? It will be a good person, because the commission is doing their best. I know they are.”

The unhappiness of LAPD’s senior management was expressed privately as well. When the decision was made Thursday, detectives and commanders in Parker Center, the police headquarters downtown, said doors began closing on the sixth floor--where the top brass have offices.

Former Deputy Chief William Rathburn, who lives in Texas, said his phone started ringing within hours of the announcement. Rathburn said some of the calls were from former LAPD associates grousing that he should have applied for the job--at least then, they complained, an LAPD veteran who shared their sense of the department might have made the cut.

To several of the new graduates, who tossed their caps into the air after the ceremony, it matters more that they are part of the LAPD than who is selected to lead them.

“I’m just so pumped up right now because I’m here,” said Police Cadet Wayne Edwards. “When you go out there and look at all the different organizations, this is the one that has the best opportunities.... I’m LAPD, and I will follow what I’ve gotta do.”

Away from the gloom of the brass and the ebullience of the new officers, police across the city expressed more nuanced views of the future.

Many expressed concerns about a newcomer to Los Angeles, a prospective chief who would not even know his way around the city, let alone the department. Others acknowledged that the LAPD has brought some discredit onto itself and said they appreciated the commission’s desire to bring in fresh leadership.

“My sincere question is, who does the new chief turn to for an honest answer to the question: ‘Who’s who in the zoo?’ ” said Capt. Joseph Curreri. “That’s the dilemma.”

Curreri, echoing the view of many interviewed, said the new chief should set a positive tone with the rank and file and ease into his agenda rather than attempting major reforms overnight.

“I think it would be a mistake for any chief to come in here hard-nosed and say, ‘There are a lot of problems in this organization and you people are all part of them,’ ” Curreri said. “He needs to be tactful in the approach and not come in thinking everybody’s a jerk, because we’re not.”

Officer Todd Clease, who patrols the Southwest Division, was among those to say they believe a new chief could be a refreshing change.

“We need more than just a manager,” Clease said. “We need someone who is a true leader, who understands where we are now and who has a vision for where we need to go in the future.”

At the LAPD’s Hollenbeck Division, in one of the oldest sections of the city, support on the street seemed to be growing for Lopez, a former LAPD official who left to lead a small-town department. Though Mayor James K. Hahn emphasizes the need to hire a chief who can change the culture of the LAPD, several officers were worried about the prospect of a chief who did not come up through their ranks.

Lopez was their favorite.

“He’s the perfect choice,” said Senior Lead Officer Vincent Rodriguez. “The guy bleeds LAPD.”

Rodriguez, 41, worked under Lopez when Lopez was a commander at LAPD’s Central Bureau. Rodriguez praised Lopez’s people skills, but said the time Lopez spent with the LAPD will be the most important factor for many officers in deciding whom to support.

“The truth is we want someone from the inside, someone who will understand the [LAPD] culture because he’s been there himself,” Rodriguez said.

Both Timoney and Bratton enjoy higher national profiles than Lopez, whose reputation is familiar mostly within the ranks of the LAPD. But some officers said that although reputation counts, a new chief’s success will depend at least as much on how he is embraced by the department’s rank and file.

“We’ve dealt with outsiders before,” said Officer Fred Celis, a motorcycle officer, as he checked over his bike. “[Willie] Williams was a good chief, but he was never well-liked because he was from the outside.”

One officer, however, said the support for Lopez is evidence of a culture of insularity that the department needs to move away from.

“The LAPD has been the way it is now for years, and the only way to change it is to have someone come in from the outside,” said Sgt. Jesse James, 45, who has worked for the department for 22 years.

Hahn said he called the six candidates who currently work in the LAPD on Friday to reassure them and tell them he would like them to be part of the department’s new management team.

However, the new City Charter, enacted late in the administration of Hahn’s predecessor, Mayor Richard Riordan, allows an incoming police chief to name his own top deputies.

The mayor sought input from advisors and other associates and was briefed by his top staff in advance of his interviews with the three finalists next week.

His staff also reached out to leaders of the Police Protective League, who had expressed initial shock and dismay that no one from within the ranks made the final cut.

On Friday, those leaders struck a more conciliatory tone.

“We encourage the mayor to carefully review the backgrounds and plans of each of the candidates submitted to him by the Police Commission,” league President Mitzi Grasso said in a statement. “Earlier in the year, the mayor showed great leadership by choosing not to reappoint the troubled former chief.”

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Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Daren Briscoe and Scott Glover contributed to this report.