Police Reform

Police officials told the City Council on Tuesday that they are making headway in complying with a reform plan instituted by the California attorney general this spring. In February, the City Council agreed to a plan by Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to rid a troubled Police Department of racism and civil rights violations. The pact marked the first time that Lockyer's office has imposed such a plan on a police department--a role typically reserved for the federal government.

The inquiry into the Los Angeles Police Department's failure to respond quickly and effectively to the riots must not degenerate into mean-spirited scapegoating. No one line officer can be blamed for the breakdown. Efforts to put all the heat on, say, a field commander like Lt. Michael Moulin are patently absurd. Successful policing is a team effort; likewise, unsuccessful policing of the magnitude that occurred the night the riots broke out is a team failure.

Three years ago, in the wake of the landmark Report of the Independent (Christopher) Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, critics of the police force and committed police officers alike were finally hopeful that the LAPD would soon see happier days. They were looking forward to a time when the memory of the horrible and unnecessary beating of Rodney G. King would fade, when the memory of aloof headquarters administration would fade, when the memory of insensitive policing would fade.

Negotiations for an agreement between Los Angeles and the federal government over reform of the LAPD cut a wide swath through local government in 2000--and may prove the most lasting monument to a turbulent political year. By the time the deal was struck, Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks had argued over how long to fight it. Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff, already at odds with Parks, was further from him than ever, and also had drawn the suspicion of the mayor.

Energized by the landslide victory of the police reform measure in Tuesday's election, top city officials and civic leaders said they are prepared to move forward with other programs to assure that the Los Angeles Police Department is responsive to the city's increasingly diverse population. The approval of Charter Amendment F, the leaders said, is only the beginning in a continuing push to remake a department that has long operated largely outside the control of City Hall.

Warren Christopher, whose name has become inexorably linked to police reform in Los Angeles, has announced that he will step aside as head of O'Melveny & Myers, the city's oldest and one of the country's most prestigious law firms. Christopher, 66, who has been chairman of the firm's management committee for 10 years, will continue to be a partner but will hand over the role of directing the firm to Charles W. Bender, currently its managing partner.

In his strongest public statement to date on the urgency of reforming the Los Angeles Police Department, the acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division told the City Council Wednesday that the U.S. government insists on a binding, legal agreement to make sure "meaningful, permanent" police reforms finally occur.

A U.S. District Court judge known for being well versed in police issues was assigned Friday to oversee implementation of a wide-ranging federal consent decree on reforming the Los Angeles Police Department. Federal Judge Gary A. Feess Jr., 52, was randomly picked to handle the decree after city and federal officials filed the 114-page document at the Spring Street courthouse shortly before 4 p.m. on Friday.

The Los Angeles City Council on Thursday approved a historic settlement with the federal government to reform and restructure the Los Angeles Police Department. Earlier in the day, a reluctant, visibly conflicted Mayor Richard Riordan said he would sign the so-called consent decree despite his deep philosophical reservations about its implications. "As mayor of the city of Los Angeles, I have often had tough days," Riordan said, "but I can think of none tougher than today."

With a final price tag yet to be determined, the Los Angeles City Council was told Tuesday that it will cost $5 million a year to pay for some of the police reforms being sought by the U.S. Justice Department. The City Council received the news at a closed-door meeting with a team of city officials negotiating with federal authorities over how best to implement long-sought changes in the police department. The next meeting is scheduled in two weeks.