Fisher May Be Moving to U.S. Post

Los Angeles Police Commission President Raymond C. Fisher, an instrumental figure in reforming the Police Department, has been selected to fill a top job under U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, sources familiar with the pending appointment confirmed Wednesday.

Fisher, an influential commission member who spearheaded the panel’s recent ouster of former Chief Willie L. Williams, is expected to be named, possibly as early as this week, to serve as associate attorney general--the third-highest position at the attorney general’s office in Washington, the sources said.

Fisher, 57, declined to confirm or deny his pending appointment, which would have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The prominent private attorney met with President Clinton last week to discuss the job. Sources said Fisher would probably remain on the commission until a new permanent police chief is hired this summer. Although Fisher’s stint as commission president ends in July, his term on the city board does not expire for another year.

Fisher’s departure could leave a significant void on the five-member panel, which relied on his steady and intellectual approach on issues ranging from departmental reforms to Williams’ unsuccessful bid for a second five-year appointment as chief.

“I’m really sorry to see him go if it is true,� said LAPD Inspector General Katherine Mader, who has worked closely with Fisher on department matters. “It’s our loss and a tremendous gain for the Department of Justice. His deliberative, judicious and analytical mind was a very solid anchor for every controversy that has occurred over the last year.�

Fisher, who was appointed to the Police Commission by Mayor Richard Riordan in August 1995 and elected commission president in July 1996, served as deputy general counsel for the Christopher Commission--the 1991 blue-ribbon panel that recommended sweeping LAPD reforms after the Rodney G. King beating.

A Stanford Law School graduate, Fisher served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan and U.S. Appeals Court Judge J. Skelly Wright.

Fisher, who lives in Sherman Oaks, is expected to take a leave of absence from his law firm--Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, where he is a senior litigation partner. His clients have included Bank of America, Toyota and actor Clint Eastwood. Fisher also has served as a director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

In his role as associate attorney general, Fisher would assist Reno and her deputy attorney general “in formulating and implementing departmental policies and programs pertaining to a broad range of civil justice matters,� according to a job description released by the Department of Justice. “The office [of the associate attorney general] is also the focal point for the direction and coordination of the department’s civil and immigration functions.�

In addition to Fisher, officials from the attorney general’s office are also interested in bringing a second top Los Angeles attorney to work in Washington. Bill Lann Lee, western regional counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is one of two finalists to succeed Deval Patrick as assistant attorney general for civil rights.

The appointment of Fisher, and the possible appointment of Lee, comes at a time when the Department of Justice is proceeding with a civil rights inquiry into the LAPD stemming from allegations made by former Det. Mark Fuhrman of rampant police misconduct. The LAPD found that Fuhrman largely fabricated assertions of police misbehavior in taped interviews with an aspiring screenwriter that were disclosed at the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

It is unclear what role, if any, Fisher would have in that matter when he is in Washington.

With Fisher’s departure and the expiration of Commissioner Art Mattox’s term in June, Riordan could significantly change the makeup of the Police Commission. Despite lobbying from Riordan to appoint Deputy Chief Bernard Parks as interim police chief, Mattox voted for the victor, Assistant Chief Bayan Lewis. Mattox is interested in being reappointed to the panel.