LAPD Chief’s Letter to Commission Stirs Debate

As Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams opens his campaign for a second term, his letter seeking reappointment is drawing close scrutiny--and some behind-the-scenes complaints--as it lays out at least a partial blueprint for the civic battle ahead.

For starters, the accomplishments listed by Williams are not universally seen as his alone. Although even Williams’ critics credit him with helping restore confidence in the Police Department, they say some of his claims of progress are exaggerated.

Then there is the matter of the lengthy footnote that appears on Page 1 of the letter, delivered Thursday to members of the city’s civilian Police Commission.

In dense legal jargon, the paragraph informs commissioners--as well as the mayor, council members and reporters, all of whom were given copies--that neither Williams’ application for a second term “nor any statement or implication made herein” should be construed as waiving his rights.

Among the chief’s hints of possible areas for legal action: the commission’s evaluations of him, the applicability to him of a 1992 reform measure limiting a chief’s tenure, the handling and release of his personnel records, and “the handling and / or treatment of conflicts of interest respecting me by the city of Los Angeles, its constituent agencies and / or its entities.”

Williams’ approach to fighting for his job--a combination of veiled threats and some trappings of a political campaign--is creating a quandary for the Police Commission, whose members have clashed with Williams in the past but are constrained from speaking out about the appointment process because it involves personnel issues.

The panel’s five members, all appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan, have been accused of playing politics with the chief selection process--a charge they deny. They insist, in fact, that they are struggling to keep politics out of an increasingly political debate.

“I don’t think it’s constructive to have a campaign,” said commission President Raymond C. Fisher, who heads the board, which is responsible for setting LAPD policy. “It should be a deliberative effort, and that’s what we are going to do our best to see that it is.”

The commission’s silence and the reluctance of key council members and Riordan to comment publicly on the issue have created an unusual dynamic, one in which Williams is drumming up public support for his reappointment while his critics are relegated to the sidelines. Community groups have begun pushing for the chief’s reappointment, and Williams has been making speeches and appearances at which he highlights his record of accomplishments.

The efforts by Williams and his backers have helped to galvanize some support for the chief, but they also have angered a number of key players, who see Williams’ moves as part of a growing campaign to put pressure on City Hall. Under a 1992 charter amendment approved by city voters, the Police Commission has the responsibility of deciding whether to reappoint the chief; that decision can be reviewed by the City Council, where it would take 10 out of 15 votes to override the commission.

Looming in the background of that scenario is another possibility: that Williams would take legal action if he does not get his way. Although he downplays that possibility, his letter’s footnote pointedly reminds city leaders of his possible legal claims.

Asked about that footnote, Williams responded: “Willie W.lliams didn’t put these issues on the table. No one is saying that if the chief of police isn’t reappointed, he’s going to file a lawsuit.”

Still, some officials read it that way.

“It’s laying the groundwork that says, ‘Everyone needs to be very doubly self-conscious about exactly what they’re doing and how because there’s this possibility that there’s going to be a lawsuit,’ ” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, head of the Public Safety Committee. “No one wants to hear anything that would even remotely imply that there’s the possibility of legal action. It just makes the whole atmosphere less of a relaxing one.”

Still, Chick said she understands Williams’ desire to protect himself. After all, she said, the chief’s confidential personnel documents have leaked out on previous occasions.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg agreed and said she did not fault Williams for asserting his rights.

“He’s being very upfront saying, ‘I don’t think my rights have been exactly protected by all of you,’ ” she said. “He’s not waiving any rights, and he shouldn’t.”

While the language of that footnote was stirring discussion at City Hall, Williams’ self-chosen list of accomplishments also was drawing scrutiny, in part because it contains a number of controversial claims.

Among them:

* Williams asserts in his letter that the LAPD’s historic expansion plan was undertaken “at my initiative.” In fact, the chief initially opposed Mayor Richard Riordan’s efforts to hire 3,000 police officers in four years, saying it would overtax LAPD resources.

* The chief writes that he deserves credit for “increased focus on sexual and gender harassment complaints,” but the department has ignored some of its own recommendations for handling those issues, and many women say harassment and discrimination have gotten worse in recent years.

* Williams states that “I have guided the development of an aggressive capital improvement plan which includes building three new stations and renovating two others.” He does not mention that those improvements were funded by a bond measure planned and approved before Williams came to Los Angeles.

* Williams’ use of statistics also raises questions. In his letter, he cites the public’s growing approval for the LAPD and the decline in police complaints as reasons for his renewal, but he overlooks the findings of department analysts and ignores statistics that cast a different light on those numbers.

In one section, for instance, Williams asserts that public approval for the department stands at “over” 70% when the most current Times poll, conducted last summer, shows it at 56%. And he does not mention that the department’s popularity has fallen to that level from a high of 71%, its mid-1995 approval rating.

In the area of complaints against police, Williams notes that use-of-force complaints against officers are down by 30% since late 1992, six months after he became chief. But arrests also are down by roughly the same percentage during that period, raising the possibility that complaints are down merely because there are fewer contacts between police and citizens. Williams does not address the issue of why arrests have fallen off in recent years.

A study of LAPD reform conducted last year by a leading expert, Los Angeles lawyer Merrick A. Bobb, found that LAPD officers still use force in about 1% of all arrests--a number that has remained unchanged in the years after the beating of Rodney G. King, the 1992 riots and Williams’ appointment.

Commission President Fisher declined to comment on the specifics of the chief’s letter, saying only that “to the extent that we have questions about the substance of the letter, I suppose we’ll have a conversation with the chief.”

Williams did not respond Friday to requests to discuss his letter further.

On one score, however, virtually all parties agree that Williams deserves much of the credit he claims: Public confidence in the LAPD, though down in the last year or two, has increased significantly since Williams became chief in 1992.

For Williams’ supporters, that remains the most important achievement of his tenure.

“I think that is, for Los Angeles, of primary importance,” said Bishop Charles Blake, pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), a likely candidate for mayor, agreed.

“On balance,” Hayden said, “my judgment is what he’s done in terms of stabilizing the community and encouraging the hope of reform outweighs the transgressions he’s been charged with at this point.”

The question is what kind of chief the commission and the city are looking for to lead the LAPD into the 21st century: a civic confidence-builder or a hands-on manager.

Times staff writer Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this story.

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Controversial Letter

In his letter laying out the reasons why he believes he deserves a second five-year term, Police Chief Willie L. Williams made a number of assertions that have come under scrutiny by close observers of the Los Angeles Police Department.

WHAT THE LETTER SAYS: “Between Dec. 1, 1992 and Nov. 30, 1996, use of force complaints declined by approximately 30% and the use of lethal force has declined by 22%. Over the same time span, citizen complaints against the department declined by 43%.”

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS: Over roughly the same period, the LAPD experienced a dramatic reduction in arrests, traffic citations and field interviews. As a result, it is not clear whether complaints against officers are down because officers are using force more prudently or merely because they are confronting fewer suspects. Roughly 1% of all arrests include a use of force--that number is unchanged through Williams’ tenure.

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WHAT THE LETTER SAYS: “The public’s confidence in the LAPD has risen dramatically since 1992. In 1992, support for the department was at one point less than 30%. By 1996, support for the department had risen by more than 100% to its current level of over 70%.”

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS: According to The Times’ regular polling on city affairs, the LAPD reached its low point in public esteem in 1992, when just 34% of those polled said they approved of the way the department was handling its job. That number rose in Williams early years, peaking at 71% in 1995. Since then, it has dropped to 56%, the number recorded in The Times’ latest poll, conducted last June.

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WHAT THE LETTER SAYS: “In 1993, at my intitiative and in conjunction with the mayor, the city of Los Angeles announced a Public Safety Plan, the centerpiece of which was a significant increase in police personnel.”

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS: Williams initially opposed the mayor’s LAPD expansion plan, saying it would overtax LAPD resources to expand the LAPD by 3,000 officers in four years.

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WHAT THE LETTER SAYS: “The LAPD purchased the Westchester Training Site. The acquisition and renovation of this site saved the city significantly more than $20 million.”

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS: Although the LAPD was the buyer, purchase of the Westchester site was arranged by Mayor Richard Riordan and his staff, not the Police Department.