Chief Concerns

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By the time Los Angeles Police Department Chief Daryl Gates retired from the force after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the blunt-spoken 43-year veteran of the force had become a high-profile lightning rod for building frustration and outrage with local law enforcement in the nation’s second largest metropolitan area. The LAPD was strongly criticized for not being able to quickly quell the rioting despite a reputation for a lean, efficient paramilitary culture and aggressive tactics that Gates inherited from his mentor, legendary Police Chief William Parker, in the 1950s and 1960s. Earlier in his police career, Gates oversaw some of the city’s highest profile investigations, including the Manson murders and the Hillside Strangler case. Though inclined to give credit to subordinates, Gates is considered the father of several innovative law enforcement programs, including the SWAT special operations squad and the DARE school education program to discourage substance abuse among young people. Gates’ post-LAPD career as a law enforcement consultant has led him to business ventures ranging from the PropertyRoom.com online police auction house to video game company Sierra, where he even had a cameo in “Police Quest 4: Open Season.” These days, Gates is back in a full-time role as chief executive of Global ePoint Inc., a struggling City of Industry surveillance technology company targeting the homeland defense and law enforcement industries.

Question: You’re back in a full-time job while many of your law enforcement contemporaries are focusing on their golf. What happened?

Answer: I was asked to consult for Global ePoint when the company formed four years ago because one of the products they wanted to sell was a DVR surveillance system for police departments, particularly patrol cars. I eventually joined the board, but last August the board asked if I would try to turn around one of their units. I became president in November to work on some wider issues in the company, and in June they asked me to become CEO. I drive in from Dana Point and stay here a couple of days a week in addition to the work I do from home. But this is not a long-term job for me.

Q: What does ‘not long term’ mean to you?

A: I told the board I’m not here forever. I want to develop the company to where it has a clear future, pay our vendors what we owe them and make some money for the shareholders. Then some younger guy who’s whiz-bang at growing a company might see a future in coming in here and taking over. The company isn’t there yet, but I think I can do it. Maybe it will take a year, particularly if the government gets off its duff about cockpit surveillance.

Q: Cockpit surveillance being the product with the most potential for turning around your company?

A: We have a terrific system, the best technology I’ve seen, that enables pilots to know what’s going on back in the cabin without opening the door. They’ve been sealed off since 9/11, but the government has been slow in making airlines install equipment. When there is an incident, the pilot has to rely on communications from the cabin crew to determine whether to call the tower for aid. There have been numerous incidents, most recently in Florida, where if the pilot had been able to see what actually was going, the pilot might have avoided landing the plane early.

Q: Several other local companies in the homeland security market also have struggled despite having products for which there would seem to be strong demand in the current climate. Why hasn’t Global ePoint’s system been a success?

A: Well in our case there has been mismanagement, but government inaction is also a factor. Both an international committee and an FAA committee recommended cockpit surveillance systems be required in commercial jetliners more than five years ago but the FAA has failed miserably to implement that. As a result, a company like this, which has been prepared with a product for a long time, is left hanging. Hopefully, we’ve been told, this is going to end soon. The airlines themselves aren’t going to do it without a mandate. They’ll spend $200,000 to install an entertainment system which we also do but won’t spend $25,000 to enable their pilots to see what’s going on in back of the plane.

Q: How has your system been selling in the countries that have mandated the systems?

A: We’ve installed our system on more than 750 aircraft, including 80 percent of the market in Germany. We feel this is a potentially huge market, $300 million to $400 million, because once the U.S. mandates it every airline around the world will have to comply if they fly in or over the U.S. We think will get a large share of that market, because there are only four companies that have a systems and we have government certifications for more planes.

Q: You’ve worked on both sides of the government procurement business as a customer and now a vendor. Any observations?

A: I’ve learned several things. For one thing, many segments of government are run a hell of a lot better than private industry. I think my police department ran far better, more efficiently and effectively with fewer resources than private industry. I think private industry wastes a lot of money and they talk things to death. On the other hand, I was a so-called bureaucrat for 43 years and quite frankly, I’m embarrassed when I see government operate as poorly as I’ve seen in certain segments of the federal government.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t attempting to turn around this company?

A: Enjoying my home and family, play golf. I stay in shape by running and working out. I can still fit into my uniform. I always believed as chief that you have to set an example for the officers by being in as good of shape as you wanted them to be.

Q: Who were your early mentors on the force, the people who influenced you the most as an officer and later as an administrator?

A: I had some great sergeants early in my career. But I really had a golden opportunity when I was assigned to be the security aide and driver for Chief Bill Parker. He kind of took me under his wing, and as we drove around the city he shared his philosophy and reasons for many of the decisions he made.

Q: What’s an example of something you learned from him?

A: There was the time when he took the slot machines out of the downtown press club. He told me, “The reporters are going to be furious and this is going to hurt me, but it’s also a way to help me put across my position when it comes to illegal gambling and organized crime.” And it did. Parker really wasn’t overly popular with the troops, but he was respected as a man of great character. The officers knew that Parker was about discipline but that he was fair. That was how he built professionalism at LAPD and throughout California law enforcement in those years.

Q: How did you apply those lessons when you became chief?

A: We had a small department for the area we had to cover, only 7,000 and sometimes less. Chicago had a much bigger department and you could put Chicago in the San Fernando Valley and it would get lost. Our limited resources dictated how we ran the department my people recognized that we had to get things done and sometimes take unique approaches to do it. We went through some tough times after Proposition 13, but we had great officers and great support staff. We drove police cars for 200,000 miles, and Bell said we pushed the limits of what they thought could be done in with their helicopters. Our slogan was “Do more with less.” I’m not saying that every officer was an angel, but the problem children were really a small segment despite the press they got.

Q: As an administrator, what were the lessons you learned from the department’s response to the incidents that led to L.A. riots in April 1992?

A: To this day I’ve been embarrassed by our response. We had a plan, but we didn’t work it and no one was more surprised than me. The LAPD’s plan was based on a national one I helped write after the Watts riots. Our plan was to saturate the area in a very controlled way, and that simply was not done. I got two lessons from that. I assumed my top staff was totally trained up at that point in how you handle civil disturbances and maybe I was wrong. There also was some evidence to suggest that some of my top people were reluctant to move out aggressively because they knew I was a lame duck since I had announced I was going to retire later that year. They were all potential candidates for my position and may not have wanted to be typed, as I had been, as being too aggressive.

Q: Your successors have had their own problems, most recently the controversy over how officers handled crowds and the media during a pro-immigration rally in MacArthur Park. Any critique on how that incident was handled?

A: I believe that sometimes officials can be too quick to assess blame, for political reasons, without realizing the damage that can be done to the rank and file. When I was chief I coined the phrase the “LAPD Family.” When my officers had problems, I had problems. And you have to understand that your officers have families, too. Once you publicly humiliate an officer, demote or reassign them, you’ve lost them totally, so you better think twice before you take that step. He or she may come to work each day and put in the hours, but you’ll never get their full potential. There are ways you can acknowledge the public’s concerns but not rush to judgment before you have all the facts.

Q: It’s clear that Chief Parker was a strong influence, but who were some even earlier influences on your life?

A: My mother was a real pioneer, a very strong woman and hard worker. My dad was a good guy but he had some problems, and she supported the family. The worst thing I could do was disappoint her, because she believed in me so much. That’s also a characteristic that defines good leadership. Have high expectations for your people, show respect and personal concern, and they’ll want to get the job done and not disappoint you.

Q: Unlike many officers, joining the police force wasn’t a childhood ambition of yours. What perceptions did you have about police officers growing up?

A: As a little boy, they were probably not very good, because my dad was always getting into trouble. As a teenager, I’d get into trouble periodically myself, but nothing serious. Interestingly, some of the same juvenile officers who used to check on me were still on the force when I became police chief. They were good guys. But I really didn’t work toward becoming a policeman. At the time, I needed a job, my wife was pregnant, and LAPD paid $290 a month. I thought I’d do this for a little while then go to law school and become a rich lawyer. Never did. I probably accumulated more academic credits at USC than anyone, but I never could get around to finishing my master’s thesis at the business school.

Q: Do you still own any guns?

A: I carry a gun, and I own a few, but I’m no gun nut at all. I have had many threats against my life. I probably irritated a lot of people as chief. I was chief for 15 years, did a lot of public appearances, lot of television, my name was in the paper on a regular basis. Whenever you have that high level of visibility you’re a target for nuts. I was advised several years ago by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that I should never go to Mexico, because when I was chief I was very aggressive against drug traffickers. So I go to Mexican restaurants locally, because I love Mexican food, but I never go to Mexico.

Q: Are there any parts of Los Angeles where you wouldn’t go to these days?

A: I have tickets to the USC football games. My brother also is retired from LAPD, and both of us know all the back streets. So when we go to a game, we take a lot of shortcuts because as you know, traffic for a USC game is pretty horrible. There was a time the two of us went to a game with my girlfriend, and afterwards, she said, “I’ll never go with you two again.” When I asked why, she said, “I can’t believe you drove me down all those streets that were in gang territory. With all those gang members hanging around outside!” I had thought nothing of it. I used to drive down there by myself all the time at night when I was chief, and get out to talk to gang members. I practically lived in the South Central. So no, there’s no place where I would be afraid to go.

Q: There’s a story that the LAPD was able to handle the 1984 Olympics because you basically rounded up all the gang members and kept them off the streets until it was over. Is that true?

A: No, we never did that, though the police in Sarajevo, which had the Winter Olympics, suggested we do that. We were kind of shocked. We tried to figure out how we could pull this off with our small force, legally. We basically used “smoke and mirrors” to spread our resources. For example, we worked the streets, worked them real hard, and when we found people breaking the law we put them in jail. When word gets out that you aren’t going to allow any problems, the criminal element disappears for a while.

Q: It sounds like being police chief for a huge city was good preparation for turning around a struggling technology company.

A: Exactly. It boggles my mind when I see the lack of planning, the lack of clear direction that can take place in private industry. This company had several ideas, some good and some bad, but they just didn’t carry out the good ones. They have some terrific technology, but didn’t put it together into a product that would sell to the customers they’re targeting. When you’re in business the job is to make money, not just have great technology.

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