Willie L Williams

For the first time in the Los Angeles Police Department's 129-year history, a female officer today is expected to be promoted to the rank of commander. Chief Willie L. Williams said he will formally present Capt. Betty P. Kelepecz with a commander's badge today, making her the highest-ranking female officer ever at the LAPD.

The Los Angeles Police Commission, in a divided vote Wednesday, appointed Assistant Chief Bayan Lewis to take over as the interim police chief until a permanent replacement for Chief Willie L. Williams is found. The selection of Lewis, a 34-year department veteran who now oversees about 85% of the LAPD's resources, reflected the view of a majority of commission members that the interim chief not be a contender for the permanent job.

With Chief Willie L. Williams heading out the door and nobody tapped to take his place, the Los Angeles Police Department is running on autopilot as it braces for a top-to-bottom overhaul of its command structure. Some Williams loyalists are eyeing new jobs, others are planning retirements, while still others are looking to cash in a few favors before the chief leaves. Meanwhile, some foes of the outgoing chief are positioning themselves for advancement.

As the Los Angeles City Council declined Wednesday to reconsider its highly charged vote to give departing Police Chief Willie L. Williams a $375,000 severance package, the Police Commission unveiled an ambitious schedule for presenting to the mayor a final list of candidates to fill the chief's job by the end of July. City and Police Department officials said the two developments should allow the search for a new police chief to proceed in earnest.

The debate that has preoccupied city government since March came to a chaotic climax Tuesday as a divided Los Angeles City Council voted to give Police Chief Willie L. Williams a $375,000 severance package, clearing the way for the chief to vacate his office in less than a month. Late in the day, Williams announced that he would accept the offer, which he said "corrects some of the inequities and injustices that have occurred in the past."

A mediator recruited by Mayor Richard Riordan has struck a proposed deal to pay Police Chief Willie L. Williams about $375,000 so that Williams can leave his job early and clear the way for a transition to an interim chief next month, according to sources familiar with the delicate negotiations. Those sources said the mediator, retired Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard J. "Skip" Byrne, plans to attend the council session and endorse the proposal when it is presented today.

Mayor Richard Riordan's painstakingly pieced-together effort to use a neutral third party to broker an early departure for lame duck Police Chief Willie L. Williams could end in political victory. But only if the mayor can find eight members of a fractious City Council willing to agree with his mediator. As some of those members now recognize, Riordan's recruitment of retired Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard J.

The dispute over how much severance money--if any--should be paid to outgoing Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams, as well as the date of the chief's departure from the post, will be mediated by retired Superior Court Judge Richard "Skip" Byrne. Mayor Richard Riordan and lawyers for Williams said Sunday that Byrne will arbitrate the dispute pro bono--for free.

In the latest case of the Los Angeles City Council and the city's Police Commission moving at cross-purposes, the council Wednesday unanimously rejected efforts to pay Police Chief Willie L. Williams to leave early, even as the commission launched its own effort to pick a temporary replacement for him.

After nearly three hours behind closed doors Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council emerged without a decision about what sort of severance package to offer departing Police Chief Willie L. Williams. The council invited Williams' attorneys to join them for another secret session today, and several lawmakers said they expect that meeting to yield a decision.