The Right Insider Could Lead the LAPD

It’s no surprise that a political undercurrent to the standoff between Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and Police Chief Bernard C. Parks is the possibility that the city’s next police chief could be a Latino. What is surprising is that it took city leaders so long to reach such an obvious conclusion.

L.A. has been ready for a Latino police chief for years. A few numbers help make the point:

At the end of July 2001, the LAPD had 8,966 sworn personnel. Fewer than half of those officers, 4,084, are white. There are 1,232 black and 477 Asian officers. And more than one-third of the force--3,004 officers--is Latino.

Harder to quantify, but no less revealing, are two points made by knowledgeable sources in local law enforcement:

* Roughly one-half of LAPD’s patrol officers--the street cops who handle most of the initial contact with civilians--are Latino.

* Latinos apply for police work in big numbers. Latino youngsters, especially those from conservative immigrant families, look upon law enforcement as an attractive and honorable career.

This is why city political leaders finally are talking about the likelihood that Hahn will seek Latino candidates for chief to deflect the criticism he’s getting from African Americans for not supporting Parks’ bid for a second term.

The political equations work in Hahn’s favor. The Latino vote is growing while the number of black voters--a traditional base of his support--is declining. Then there’s the matter of the nasty campaign Hahn ran last year to defeat former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa. A Latino police chief wouldn’t erase memories of that battle, but it might ease the sting.

So City Hall is abuzz with the names of Latinos whom Hahn might approach as a replacement for Parks, if the Police Commission agrees that the chief’s contract should not be renewed.

Topping the list is the department’s highest-ranking Latino, Deputy Chief David Gascon. A 31-year veteran of the force, Gascon is Parks’ chief of staff and may be too loyal to campaign for his job.

That opens the field for candidates such as Cmdr. George Gascon (no relation to David), an 18-year veteran who heads LAPD training programs, and Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez, who spent 27 years with the LAPD.

Of course, these candidates, and any others associated with the LAPD, must overcome the uneasiness critics feel toward anyone who came up through the ranks. Are insiders too much the products of a notoriously insular culture to shake up a department plagued by scandals and poor morale?

I share those qualms. But my doubts have been somewhat eased by the recent performance of a veteran Latino lawman who for years was the candidate Latino activists wanted for the LAPD’s top job: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Baca no longer wants the LAPD job. He’s even endorsed Parks’ bid for another term. Baca got the job he wanted in 1998, when he defeated former Sheriff Sherman Block, a seriously ill incumbent who died days before the election. It was a painful campaign for Baca, who had to run against a former mentor by pointing to scandals that rivaled some of the LAPD’s.

The 37-year Sheriff’s Department veteran did not try to mend fences with the old-boy network after he won. Instead, he started shaking things up. Just weeks after being sworn in, he transferred problem deputies and a commander out of a troubled station in South Los Angeles. And, in a move that won praise from even the toughest local police critics, Baca began working with civil rights attorneys to create an independent system of civilian oversight.

Most political observers expect Baca to have little trouble getting reelected this year. So, in a twist, the lawman who was passed over twice for the LAPD’s top job may have four more years to stand as proof that the right insider--Latino or not--just might have what it takes to fix the LAPD.

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Frank del Olmo is associate editor of The Times.