City Officials Spend 6 Hours With Lopez

Mayor James K. Hahn met with Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez on Monday, the first of three candidates for LAPD chief to be interviewed by the mayor

In a parlor at Getty House, the mayor’s ceremonial residence in Hancock Park, Lopez spent nearly six hours chatting with Hahn, several deputy mayors, City Council President Alex Padilla and Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

Lopez smiled but said nothing to reporters as he got into his car after the interview. The mayor similarly declined to detail his time with Lopez, beyond listing what Hahn and the former Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief had for lunch--sandwiches, salad, fruit and cookies.

“Everything went very well,” Hahn said after Lopez drove off. “We had a very open and frank discussion about policing, about the department, about the chief’s experiences. I want to really get a strong view of each candidate’s vision for the department, and that’s what we did today.”

Hahn and the other city officials are to meet today and Wednesday with the remaining finalists: William Bratton, former commissioner of the New York Police Department, and John Timoney, Philadelphia’s former police commissioner.

Padilla characterized the interview as cordial and friendly. Lopez, 52, outlined plans to cut crime, improve department morale and recruit and retain officers, Padilla said.

Lopez became Oxnard’s chief in 1998 after 28 years on the Los Angeles force. He left the LAPD after Mayor Richard Riordan, passing him over for chief, chose Bernard C. Parks. Hahn later denied Parks a second five-year term, creating the vacancy.

The LAPD has about 9,000 officers; Oxnard has 200.

Padilla said Lopez also discussed a string of police shootings in his Ventura County city. In the first eight months of 2001, Oxnard officers shot and killed five men, most of them mentally ill, prompting the chief to order training on how to calm disturbed suspects.

Last week, the Los Angeles Police Commission passed over six LAPD insiders to name Bratton, Lopez and Timoney as finalists for the chief’s job. Hahn will make the final selection, subject to City Council approval. No date has been set for the decision.