Chief Says Reform to Continue

Fifteen years after the Christopher Commission recommended sweeping reform of the Los Angeles Police Department, many improvements have been made, but the work is not finished, commission members said Tuesday.

Civic leaders who served on the panel held an informal reunion recently at which Police Chief William J. Bratton assured them that he will complete the job they started.

“We talked about some of the areas in which the department has made such extraordinary strides, but there is still a way to go in some other areas,” said Police Commissioner Andrea Sheridan Ordin, who was a member of the reform panel convened in 1991 after the police beating of Rodney G. King.

Ordin added that Christopher panelists were impressed with strides made in improving the department’s diversity, particularly within the upper ranks.

Panel recommendations that have been enacted include limits on the terms of the police chief and Police Commission president, an overhaul of the citizens complaint system, a shift toward community-based policing and creation of an inspector general position to assist the Police Commission in providing civilian oversight of the department.

In a briefing to the Police Commission on Tuesday, Ordin said her fellow panelists were especially interested in the progress made in giving the civilian oversight board and its inspector general more authority and independence.

Robert E. Tranquada, a member of the Christopher Commission, said the vast majority of the most important reforms, “those involving governance issues, have been implemented.”

However, Tranquada, professor emeritus for the USC School of Medicine, said it is clear that more remains to be done after a federal judge recently decided to extend, by three years, a consent decree mandating additional reforms, in light of the Rampart Division corruption scandal. The remaining reforms include completion of a computerized system to track officer behavior.

Bratton assured commission members that the tracking system is nearing operation, Tranquada said.

Bratton said Tuesday that he is the “living embodiment of what they proposed,” which included term limits and a reappointment process for police chiefs that led to his being hired.

“I told them they should feel good that the work they put in during those hundred days is on track,” Bratton said.

Ray Fisher, a federal appellate judge who served on the Christopher panel and the Police Commission, said he too was encouraged by Bratton’s comments at the May 31 reunion at the California Club.

“As evidenced by Chief Bratton’s comments, the commission’s recommendations have had a major impact because three chiefs of police in succession have worked to conform to the recommendations with, more or less, success over time,” Fisher said.