Hahn Wins the Backing of City’s Police Union

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, who has made his crime-fighting record the centerpiece of his drive for reelection, notched another important endorsement Friday by winning the support of the city’s influential police union.

The Police Protective League bolstered Hahn’s law-and-order credentials four years ago when the four-term city attorney made his first run for mayor.

The 9,000-member union has had a powerful influence on the mayor’s first term, pushing him to oust former Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and create a more flexible workweek for officers.

But this year, the union withheld its endorsement until almost every other major labor group had committed to a candidate in the March 8 mayoral election.

On Friday, instead of standing with the mayor at a news conference to make the announcement, union President Bob Baker issued a terse statement.

“Our members were impressed by Mayor Hahn’s strong commitment to public safety and his determination to tackle the many problems plaguing the city,” Baker said. “Obviously, his many years working closely with law enforcement and his track record as mayor influenced our members, and we think those qualities will impress the voters too.”

The less than effusive endorsement comes from a union with a long history of prickly and demanding relationships with the city’s politicians.

Union sources said some of its leaders fear Hahn may stumble if corruption probes lead to indictments before the election. Federal and local prosecutors have been looking into city contracting practices for the last year.

Sources also said the league is unlikely to spend as much to support Hahn as it did four years ago.

In the 2001 election, the police union spent about $35,000 to air two radio ads that attacked rival Antonio Villaraigosa for voting against tougher laws on sex offenders and helping secure a pardon for a convicted cocaine trafficker.

After he defeated Villaraigosa, who is running again, Hahn rewarded the league by supporting flexible schedules that allow officers to work three 12-hour shifts a week, a demand that the union had made a condition of its endorsement.

The mayor last year also backed a roughly 10% pay raise for officers to be phased in over three years, despite the city’s extremely tight budget.

And perhaps most important, Hahn removed Parks, a move that the league board applauded in a letter to its members earlier this month.

“Some have even credited him with saving the department through this move,” the board wrote in the letter, which urged an endorsement of Hahn.

Parks was the only one of the five major mayoral candidates who did not have an interview with the police union as part of its endorsement process.

On Friday, he dismissed its importance.

“I don’t need the endorsement of the PPL to validate my law enforcement credentials,” Parks said, renewing his criticism of the mayor for kowtowing to the union.

“It’s clear the mayor sold the police chief’s badge to the union for its endorsement.”

Parks is a 38-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. He left in 2002 after one five-year term as chief.

The other major candidates -- state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and Villaraigosa -- all said the police union’s endorsement would mean little in a race they said would focus on alleged corruption in the Hahn administration.

Alarcon also announced Friday that he would file papers Monday to begin gathering signatures for a ballot measure to prevent future “pay-to-play” problems in city government.

Alarcon added that he would unveil more details next week.

Hahn interpreted the union endorsement as a validation of the work that he has done to improve the Police Department and reduce violent crime by 18% since he hired Chief William J. Bratton two years ago.

“Obviously, since public safety is my top priority, having the support of the rank-and-file police officers is very important,” the mayor said.

“I think the morale definitely has improved. Arrests are up. Crime is down.”

Hahn, who said he did not make any promises in exchange for the endorsement, said he hoped union members would walk precincts and work on phone banks for him.

Hahn will also be able to count on support from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which handed him its endorsement Thursday amid promises to put its financial resources and its 400,000 members in the city to work for his reelection bid.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.