Christopher Declines LAPD Study

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who headed the landmark commission on Los Angeles police reform, on Monday declined to reconvene his panel to study today’s LAPD and strongly endorsed the civilian Police Commission’s right to decide whether to reappoint the city’s police chief.

City Councilman Nate Holden had asked Christopher to jump into the delicate matter of deciding whether Police Chief Willie L. Williams deserves a second five-year term.

“The Independent Commission devoted substantial time and effort to investigating and framing recommendations concerning the hiring and retention of the chief of police,” Christopher said in a letter delivered Monday. “One product of those efforts was the recommendation that the Police Commission be empowered to decide whether the chief’s contract should be renewed after the expiration of his or her first five years in office. . . .

“I continue to adhere to the judgment of the Independent Commission and the city’s voters that the Police Commission is the appropriate body to review and decide on the rehiring of the chief,” Christopher said.

Christopher’s comments are contained in a letter sent to Holden and obtained Monday by The Times. They deliver a major boost to the commission, which is weighing the fate of Williams as he seeks a second five-year term.

Some of Williams’ supporters have challenged the authority of the commission to decide the chief’s future, suggesting that the decision regarding leadership of the LAPD is too important to be left to the civilian panel. But Christopher is an unassailable figure within the police reform community, and his endorsement of the commission’s primacy gives that board powerful support amid a potentially nasty dispute.

Christopher, said American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Allan Parachini, “is symbolically critically important. . . . Warren Christopher’s counsel remains something that the political leadership of this city would be wise to seek.”

The Independent Commission--nicknamed the Christopher Commission in honor of its chairman--brought together some of Southern California’s most prominent lawyers and other experts in 1991 to examine the LAPD in the wake of the police beating of Rodney G. King. The commission’s report, completed 100 days after the panel was created, recommended sweeping changes in the LAPD. Although many of the recommended reforms are still not in place, the Christopher report continues to guide the efforts of reform advocates as they prod the Police Department to make changes.

Williams, among others, has expressed strong support for the Christopher Commission recommendations.

In his letter, Christopher thanked Holden for expressing his confidence in the Independent Commission and said he was gratified that the panel’s recommendations continue to hold sway in Los Angeles. Some of those recommendations, including the procedures for hiring and reviewing the work of the police chief, were overwhelmingly approved by city voters in 1992.

The same ballot measure imposed a five-year term on the chief, and provided that he could reapply for a second term. Under the provisions of the ballot measure, the Police Commission has the authority to decide whether to approve a second term. The commission’s decision can be reviewed by the City Council, where it would take 10 of 15 members to overturn its decision.

Christopher’s stature is so high that Holden had hoped he would agree to return to Los Angeles and play a major role in the decision over whether Williams should stay for a second term. Holden, who is the chief’s most outspoken and visible supporter, said he would feel comfortable with Christopher overseeing that process but not with the Police Commission running it.

“This commission has shown the public that they have a bias against the police chief,” Holden said Monday. “This chief has done his job.”

Holden did not directly criticize Christopher for reaching a different conclusion, but said the former secretary of state, who retired after President Clinton’s reelection, has missed important recent developments in Los Angeles.

“He’s not aware of the current situation,” the councilman said, adding that he felt a citywide referendum on Williams’ tenure would be fairer than submitting the matter to the Police Commission.

Commission President Raymond C. Fisher, who also served with the Christopher Commission, declined to comment on the board’s evaluation of Williams. But Fisher said Christopher’s comments were a timely and important reminder that the department needs strong civilian leadership in the form of its Police Commission.

That idea undergirds much of the Christopher Commission report and was the basis for its conclusion that the Police Commission should have broad authority to hire, fire and evaluate the city’s police chief.

“I appreciate what he has said, and I am not at all surprised,” Fisher said. “It’s an important insight and reaffirmation . . . from the man who was central to this philosophy.”