Platform : Williams Needs to ‘Press the Flesh and Fly the Flag’

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams hasn’t had much good news in the last several months--there’s an ongoing feud with the Police Protective League, chilly relations with Mayor Richard Riordan, his reprimand by the Police Commission for allegedly misrepresenting whether he’s taken free lodging in Las Vegas and the smear on the reputation of the LAPD left by the O.J. Simpson trial. What can Williams do to reestablish his leadership of the LAPD, and what sort of help does he need to do it? JIM BLAIR asked these questions of people inside and outside the LAPD.

Inside the Force

TED HUNT, Board member, Police Protective League

I think for the average officer, there is a tremendous credibility gap because both the L.A. Times [articles] and the CBS 60 Minutes segment showed [Williams] to be false and misleading in his statements to the Police Commission. In the LAPD culture an officer would be punished for giving a supervisor false and misleading statements. In essence, it appears as if the chief can get away with it. People are going to make changes if they are motivated by an overarching sense of mission; but they will resist when they are reduced to a system of inequitable treatment.

I was never a Gates fan. When Daryl Gates was in charge, I used to say we’re a ship afloat with no one at the helm. I thought he was a mediocre manager at best. Unfortunately, Williams’ selection as chief of police has left us again with no one at the helm.

I’ll tell you how one guy put it: Willie Williams is a nice guy. Anybody would be proud to know the man--but he’s not one of us. He never has been and never will be. He’s an outsider. He doesn’t understand the essence of what it is to be an L.A. police officer.

****

LEONARD ROSS, President, Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, an organization founded by African American officers

I think what the Chief needs to do right now is to disregard whatever fears and reservations he may have had in terms of leading this department, because obviously he’s not going to be able to do it by consensus. Normally, that’s the ideal way to come in and make changes--you get a consensus and move with it. He’s never had a consensus. In fact, he’s had opposition to just about everything he’s trying to do. Now, I think he needs to get a more in-tune group of advisers and go with it--make the changes he feels are appropriate.

Right now, the command staff pretty much is standing back and letting whatever happens, happen. I’d like to see a strong verbal commitment from them, to see them actively supporting the goals of the department and not hiding. I don’t think the media have seen, or heard, anything from the command staff in terms of support for this leadership.

One thing I’d like to see the Chief do right now is aggressively pursue programs that address the issues that are confronting our department--racism, discrimination, poor police work. If you look at the O.J. Simpson trial, the rank and file, the police union--everybody’s talking about how the chief was not supporting the department. He was “slow to respond.” Yet when he came out in strong support of the guys involved in the trial, every last one of them let him down. [Mark] Fuhrman, Philip Vannatter, the Protective League. All of them ended up turning their backs and left him standing out there taking those rocks by himself.

****

ALBERT M. RUVALCABA, President, Latin American Law Enforcement Assn.

What he really needs to do right now is recapture his credibility and the organization’s credibility. He’s got to really get out there and grab the leadership and start moving forward.

He came with a vision but he didn’t really energize it in the sense [that] he got the rest of his staff behind him.

I’ve spoken to him about this before, and told him, “You know what, chief? Your job is a very political one and you’ve got to press the flesh, not only with the community but with the officers as well. You’ve got to have high visibility. You have to fly the flag. You’re a very great communicator and guys will come around for you.”

Well, he told me [that] it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time to come out to the stations and talk to the guys. And I said, that’s right and the troops know that, and it’s very important that you do that.

He needs to wipe out his calendar and do those things that are going to be very supportive of the organization. [Look at] the Chief of Police for the MTA [Sharon Papa]--that lady has done an outstanding job for her organization because when they were going to eliminate the MTA police, she went all over the place in support of her guys. It was almost a hopeless cause. She did not rest until the votes came in to keep the police.

I also think [Williams’] staff is really doing a disservice to him. He’s out there drowning and his staff, rather than throwing life preservers, [is] throwing him anchors. He needs to go beyond his immediate staff and start getting input from [others].

Outside the Force

REV. KENNETH C. ULMER, Pastor, Faithful Central Baptist Church, member of Rebuild L.A. committee

So much depends on the kind of coalition Chief Williams has supporting and assisting him. I am deeply concerned about what seems to be a significant breach between him and the mayor that could seriously affect his ability to make important and necessary changes. I don’t feel he has the mayor’s full support. Certainly, the City Council has a piece of that, too.

That being said, I think there is obviously a major concern about the character of some of the members of the police force. I don’t think that the Mark Fuhrman issue was as much of an aberration as many would have us think. Obviously, there has to be an investigation and a housecleaning within the force.

Whatever changes are going to be made will have to be done with the support of the mayor and the City Council, and I’m not very sure how much of that kind of support Chief Williams really has.

****

H. MARK MARKOWITZ, Member, West Valley Community Police Advisory Board

I don’t think the chief has lost any [support] at all with the civilian populace. He is exceedingly well received, well respected and enjoys a great relationship with the community as evidenced by the community relations organizations established during his tenure. They’re all thriving, particularly the 18 community police advisory boards throughout the city.

I’m not all that familiar with his calendar, [but] maybe [he should] employ [with police officers] some of the activities that he does with the civilians, maybe not necessarily just go to roll calls but set up an informal monthly or bimonthly meeting with the officers and let them air their gripes and comments. Just let it flow.

In my relationships with the Police Department, I don’t hear that kind of grumbling and gripes [about the chief]. I think a lot of [the criticism] is done, perhaps, by some small group of unhappy people that just couldn’t get used to the idea of an outsider coming into the police department. It’s hard, [but] it happens in any business.