Parks Ouster Likely to Stem Tide of Police Defections

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Parks Ouster Likely to Stem Tide of Police Defections

POLITICS By HOWARD FINE

Staff Reporter

The L.A. Police Commission’s decision not to renew the contract of Police Chief Bernard Parks should help the city close the gap in the number of officers on the streets.

Currently, the LAPD is 1,100 officers short of its authorized strength of 10,000 officers, one of the key reasons L.A. Police Commission President Rick Caruso called the LAPD a “department in crisis.” The City Council could overturn the decision, but that’s considered unlikely.

Not reappointing Parks should provide relief on two fronts: stemming the exodus of police, particularly veteran officers, and recruiting new officers.

“I would expect to see a few Parks loyalists go, but the many other officers who were considering leaving the LAPD because of low morale may put their decisions on hold,” said Adena Tessler, legislative deputy to L.A. City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the Council’s public safety committee.

As for recruiting new officers, Tessler and veteran LAPD watcher and local attorney Merrick Bobb said they expect an uptick in successful recruits, as officers within the department begin to tell friends that might be considering a career with the LAPD to go ahead and apply.

“Police recruiting is so often done by word-of-mouth, from officers to civilians looking to become officers,” Bobb said. “If the existing officers within the force are happier, then the willingness of those officers to recruit may improve even if a new chief is not in place.”

However, Bobb warned against LAPD and city personnel staff hiring too many officers too quickly.

“There’s a lot of pressure to get officers on the street quickly,” he said. “I only hope that standards aren’t lowered in this rush, since that’s how you get so-called problem officers on the force. Departments that undergo a program of crash recruiting often live to regret it.”

Mayor Produces Victory as Voters Show Write Stuff

Termed-out Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill surprised nearly everybody last week with her write-in victory at the polls. In a crowded field of four strong contenders, she emerged as the top vote getter, with 28 percent of the vote.

The question is, can she do it again? For there will be only one name appearing on the runoff ballot on June 5: second-place finisher and City Councilman Dan Baker. O’Neill’s name will not be on the ballot and voters will have to write it in again.

“No question now, she’s the frontrunner going into the June runoff,” said Paul Schmidt, professor of political science at California State University Long Beach.

Schmidt said he expects the voter turnout in June to be about the same as the very low 18 percent last week. “That low turnout definitely helped O’Neill,” he said. “In low-turnout elections, you get the high-propensity voters who…easily grasp the concept of a write-in candidacy.”

Schmidt said that O’Neill was able to raise enough money from the business community and her wide network of friends. Absentee voters are more likely to write in a candidate than someone going to the polls.

Also, the fact that O’Neill came in first is likely to prompt Long Beach voters to take her second write-in campaign more seriously.

“Usually, write-in candidates are fringe types who are lucky if they get into the high single-digitd,” Schmidt said.


Targeting Davis

A week after a small business coalition reconvened to begin protesting the increasing cost of doing business in California, the group conducted its first political action. Last Wednesday, the Independent Business Coalition staged a rally in front of the West L.A. campaign headquarters of Gov. Gray Davis, their Public Enemy No. 1.

The idea: to send a message to Davis to repeal the recently passed hike in workers’ compensation benefits and to roll back the recent increase in the minimum wage.

But if last week’s turnout is any indication, the Independent Business Coalition has a long ways to go in political activism. Only eight businesspeople turned out with picket signs.

“We’re all busy running our businesses; most of us don’t have time for this political action,” said Thomas Buttner, president of Judco Manufacturing, a Harbor City-based maker of electrical switches.


New Hahn Battles

With the battle over the reappointment of Police Chief Bernard Parks largely behind him, L.A. Mayor James Hahn faces another huge challenge this week: how to cut $250 million from the city’s budget and still meet the demands for increased city services coming from Valley secession advocates.

Hahn will try to satisfy both seemingly contradictory demands when he gives his State of the City address this Thursday at a high school in North Hills.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at

[email protected].

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