William J. Bratton was the star witness to a crime against good taste Thursday during a charity roast in which Los Angeles political leaders poked fun at the police chief's frequent-flier tendencies and his penchant for riling others with his acid tongue.
Several of the jokes focused on Bratton's rocky relations with some City Council members, most notably the chill between him and Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who lost the chief's job to Bratton.
"Bratton quickly assessed the three greatest challenges he would have to face as new chief," said Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. "It's gangs. It's Al Qaeda. And it's Bernard Parks."
Cooley said that Parks will tell you there are three kinds of lies: "Lies, damn lies and Bill Bratton's crime stats."
Such was the tenor of many of the jokes on a night when more than 1,000 politicians, businesspeople, lobbyists and police officers packed a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel for the 10th annual political roast, which is expected to bring in more than $575,000 for the American Diabetes Assn.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joked that his first meeting with Bratton was a little rough until he offered advice. "L.A.'s a big city, there are plenty of cameras to go around for the two of us."
Villaraigosa, who was roasted last year, appeared happy to be a roaster Thursday, noting that his police chief could improve his social skills. There were also quips about Bratton's reputation as a world traveler: The Times reported last March that he spent one-third of the previous year -- 125 days -- outside the city on personal and business trips to places including London and New York.
Council President Eric Garcetti said: "We do have solid evidence that the chief canceled his trip to Zimbabwe and Mongolia to be with us here tonight and he has postponed the press conferences he was going to have at 6:30 and 7:30."
The theme for the evening was how Bratton's shoot-from-the-hip comments have failed to endear him to many of the elected officials with whom he works.
In July, Parks led a group of five City Council members calling for a Police Commission investigation into what they said were the chief's rude and unprofessional remarks. Councilman Dennis P. Zine, one of those who complained, took the stage Thursday night to say that he and others have put any hard feelings with the chief behind them.
