David D Dotson

A deputy chief who criticized Los Angeles Police Department policies during last year's Christopher Commission hearings, one of the force's highest-ranking black officers, and the former head of the DARE anti-drug program are among 13 semi-finalists to replace Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, it was learned Monday. Five contenders from within the Police Department told The Times they have been notified that they are among the top candidates culled from a list of 32 applicants for Gates' job.

Re "LAPD Still at Risk of Scandal Despite Reform, Panel Says," July 12 The Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel got it half right. Of course the Los Angeles Police Department needs more officers. Every police department can do a better job with more officers. It is the tone set by the leadership of the department, however, that makes the real difference in whether a "warrior policing" mentality is condoned and tolerated or deemed to be not acceptable. A community-based policing philosophy applied across the city, no matter what neighborhood, instead of the end-justifies-the-means approach is what is required to rid the department of corrupt behavior by the officers.

Re "Enough Meddling by the Clowns," by Daryl Gates, Commentary, June 7: Clowns indeed! I see my old boss, Daryl Gates, has again seized upon the opportunity to display his lack of knowledge of what actually happened within the LAPD under his stewardship, his lack of understanding of how his brand of leadership contributed to a steady decline in organizational effectiveness for most of his tenure as chief and his terrible recall of related historical events....

Re "Secrecy again a major issue for the LAPD," Jan. 15 It may be convenient and often appropriate to blame the Los Angeles Police Department for keeping information hidden. This time, however, the blame belongs somewhere else. The LAPD was following the advice of the city attorney, who opined that boards of rights hearings are confidential and that disclosure of those proceedings is prohibited. The real story is the power of police unions in Sacramento to defeat police accountability with sweeping protections for officers that go well beyond those required to ensure the safety of officers and their families from retaliation by the bad guys.

In "A Mixed Milestone for Chief Williams" (news analysis, Dec. 28), Jim Newton inappropriately gives Willie Williams credit for several accomplishments and faults him for several failures over which Williams has had little influence and no ultimate control. Newton is dead accurate, however, when he asserts that Williams has failed to effectively communicate a sense of purpose to, or win the allegiance of, his subordinates. Even those he has placed in positions of greatest responsibility privately express frustration at the lack of definitive direction and at what they perceive as a preoccupation with process as opposed to goal accomplishment.

Hoping to beef up police presence on Los Angeles streets, the City Council Tuesday authorized using $3.7 million to pay for temporary task forces in which officers will be paid overtime to battle gang-related drug dealers as well as prostitutes and traffic violators. Los Angeles police officials said that with the windfall, they hope to field an extra 200 or more officers each day for 2 1/2 months--or as long as the money holds out.

The closely watched effort to choose Police Chief Daryl F. Gates' successor entered the final stage Monday as the Los Angeles Police Commission scheduled its first round of face-to-face interviews with six finalists. The sessions, which will begin Wednesday morning at the Brentwood home of commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum, are expected to last two to three hours each and explore the candidates' plans for rebuilding the LAPD in the aftermath of the Rodney G. King beating scandal.

Seeking to further improve its once-strained relationship with Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, the Los Angeles Police Commission has chosen Cmdr. Matthew V. Hunt, a "team player" among Gates' administrators, as the commission's new liaison to the Police Department. The selection of Hunt, 54, as commander of commission operations was made four months after Deputy Police Chief David D. Dotson was chosen for the same job.

The Los Angeles Police Commission met behind closed doors for more than two hours Tuesday amid indications that a successor to Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates could be announced within days. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams remains the apparent front-runner, City Hall sources said, but the commissioners refused to comment on their deliberations.