Two summers ago, Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker seriously considered leaving the Los Angeles Police Department. He wasn't going to be promoted and worse, he felt that his leadership was being undermined by his boss, then-Chief Willie L. Williams.
But high-level city officials, including Mayor Richard Riordan, persuaded Kroeker to stay. Their message: Stick around and it will be worth your while.
"I was given encouraging words," Kroeker said. "I had a sense that in his [Riordan's] understanding of what a chief should be, that would be me."
Now, after being passed over by the mayor, who selected Deputy Chief Bernard C. Parks for the top job, Kroeker is once again considering his options, and once again the mayor is asking him to stay--this time to help a new chief lead the department.
"If I get calls from serious people with serious ideas about a future that includes me, I would give it serious thought," Kroeker said.
Kroeker is not the only one considering his future within the intensely political Police Department. A number of top officials are wondering what their fate will be under Parks.
Managers whom Parks considers to be ineffective and those who were closely allied to ex-chief Williams, an archenemy of the soon-to-be new chief, probably won't get plum assignments or promotions any time soon. In that context, sources say, Deputy Chiefs Ronald Banks and Frank Piersol have the most to worry about.
"They're big losers," said one high-ranking official. "They're going to be put out to pasture."
Banks and Piersol rose to the coveted position of assistant chief under Williams, but were recently demoted by interim Chief Bayan Lewis. Both are considered to have been too closely linked to an administration that many officials say failed to provide strong leadership and implement reforms.
"I've already been demoted. I've already suffered," Banks said. "I'm one of those that they would probably move around . . . [but] I don't have a clue. I'm not in the inner circle."
Others, sources say, who may not fare well in Parks' administration include Cmdr. Garrett Zimmon, who worked closely with Williams to spearhead the department's community policing program, and Nels Klyver, director of Organizational Development, a civilian employee who was jokingly called "chief" under Williams.
Zimmon, however, said he did not expect to be punished because of his association with Williams.
