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Mayor Garcetti reaffirms support for Chief Beck amid new revelation

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, left, and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announce midyear crime statistics during a press conference on July 9. On Wednesday, the mayor continued to express support for Beck despite allegations that he approve the LAPD's purchase of his daughter's horse.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti reaffirmed his support Wednesday for Police Chief Charlie Beck in the face of new revelations about the LAPD’s purchase of a horse from his daughter.

Despite repeated claims by Beck that he played no role in that decision, Beck signed a document approving the deal, according to records obtained by The Times.

Beck defended the purchase earlier this week by saying through a spokesman that he had deliberately recused himself from all aspects of the decision. His daughter Brandi Pearson, whose horse was sold to the department for $6,000, is an eight-year veteran of the Police Department.

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In reaction to the new details reported by The Times, Garcetti spokeswoman Vicki Curry said that the police commission would review the allegation, “as they do with all complaints about the chief’s conduct.”

“As Mayor Garcetti said Monday, he supports Chief Beck, who has done a great job in making this a safer city and in strengthening ties between LAPD and the community,” Curry wrote in an email to The Times.

Garcetti’s five appointees on the Board of Police Commissioners are in the process of determining whether to reappoint Beck to a 5-year term.

Earlier this week, when the mayor was asked about allegations that Beck had softened disciplinary action against a male sergeant accused of having an improper relationship with Beck’s daughter, the mayor said he had been told that the chief “was not part of the direct line of decisions.”

“I continue to say we have a chief that has done, I think, a great job in bringing down our crime statistic numbers, making this a safer city, strengthening our ties with the community,” Garcetti said.

“No one person is perfect, and that’s why it’s important to support the process ... which allows the public and others to bring up whatever concerns they may have. But by and large, on balance this is a police chief I’m very happy with and has done a great job,” the mayor told reporters on Monday.

Times staff writer Joel Rubin contributed to this report.

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