Los Angeles: Will Gates Give Up The Fight At Last?

By ALEX PRUD''HOMME.

When white officers from the Los Angeles police department clubbed an unemployed black construction worker named Rodney King 56 times in the early hours of March 3, they had no idea that as a result of their act, the L.A.P.D. would never be the same. They had been videotaped by a bystander, and within days television stations nationwide were replaying the grisly images, provoking a national outcry against police brutality. An inquiry determined that 23 L.A.P.D. officers had appeared on the scene of the beating. Two weeks later a sergeant and three officers were indicted on felony charges, including assault with a deadly weapon.

Last week, after 100 days of investigation, meetings with 150 community groups and a review of more than a million documents, an independent bipartisan commission appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley and police chief Daryl F. Gates issued a 228-page report on the case. The commission, headed by Warren Christopher, Deputy Secretary of State in the Carter Administration, charged the nation's third largest police force with tolerating racism, excessive use of force, and lax discipline, and recommended sweeping changes.

The report observed that L.A.P.D. officers "are encouraged to command and confront, not to communicate." While the Christopher commission did not directly blame Gates, it urged that the department "commence the transition to a new chief of police." Christopher later explained that "we think term limits are desirable . . . so there is not a time when the chief of police outlives his effectiveness, his creativity." Further, the report recommended that future chiefs be limited to two five-year terms. Gates, 64, who has led the L.A.P.D. for 13 years, held his ground. "I don't expect to run away," he said.

The report found that while most of the city's 8,300 officers were doing their job well, at least several hundred "repetitively misused force" and were not properly disciplined. Instead, it noted, many rogue cops are praised and even promoted for their conduct. When the commission cross-referenced brutality complaints against the 44 worst cops with their personnel evaluations, the latter proved "uniformly optimistic about the officer's progress and prospects."

The commission also found that racist, sexist and homophobic statements appeared regularly in the messages officers typed to one another on their patrol-car computer systems. "I would love to drive down Slauson ((a black ( area)) with a flame thrower . . . We would have a barbecue," said one. "U won't believe this," said another. "That female call again said susp((ect)) returned . . . I'll check it out then I'm going to stick my baton in her."

The report calls for a revamped police commission with the power to terminate the chief. All five incumbent commissioners were urged to resign, and so far, two have. The report also recommends a new system for addressing citizens' complaints and an emphasis on "community policing" programs, which rely on prevention more than force.

Since the King beating, politicians and civil rights groups have clamored for Gates' head. At the end of last week, after reading the scalding Christopher report, the chief apparently realized that his political support was slipping and discussed a face-saving exit with allies on the city council. "He's a proud man, and he wants to retire honorably," said city council president John Ferraro, a longtime Gates supporter. Along with councilman Joel Wachs, Ferraro laid out a plan for an "orderly" withdrawal. According to their proposal, the search for a new chief would begin immediately, and Gates would agree to retire by the end of the year. Gates, according to Ferraro, said, "I like that."

But did he mean it? On Friday morning a beaming Mayor Bradley announced, "It's clear enough to me that Chief Gates will retire at the end of this year . . . I think all of us can now begin to move toward the healing process." Meanwhile Gates, who had flown to Winston-Salem, N.C., to give a speech, coyly said he would "consider" stepping down in December.

"One day I want to retire," Gates said last week. "Thirteen years of being battered, pushed and otherwise tormented is a long, long time." Victims of the L.A.P.D.'s aggression and racism would no doubt agree.

With reporting by James Willwerth/Los Angeles