Will Quit if His Leadership Is at Fault, Gates Says

As the independent commission investigating the Los Angeles Police Department prepared for its final public hearing Wednesday, Chief Daryl F. Gates said he would resign if the panel finds that his leadership created an atmosphere that led to the beating of Rodney G. King.

During a live interview on KABC radio, Gates told talk show host Michael Jackson that he would “leave the department” if the panel finds that his leadership created a perception in the department that left officers believing their beating of the Altadena motorist was acceptable.

Jackson asked Gates if it would “be appropriate for us to call for your resignation” if it could be shown “that you set a tone that made it comfortable for officers to behave as they did in the Rodney King beating, or if you created the belief that those officers were practicing behavior that’s acceptable.”

Replied Gates: “Absolutely. Without any question at all. The fact is, if that should be shown by the independent commission, I will tell you and tell everyone here that I will . . . leave the department.”

The commission, chaired by former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, conducted its fifth and final public hearing Wednesday evening, taking testimony from more than 20 witnesses at Francis Parkman Junior High School in Woodland Hills.

The crowd of about 200, the majority of them Anglo, included by far the most supporters of the embattled chief and his beleaguered department.

Gates’ supporters all denounced the King beating, but they generally felt that the chief should not be made a scapegoat.

“Who rids the streets of criminals?” asked Mary Lou Holte, founder of a Van Nuys anti-crime group called Townkeepers Community Watch. “Who saves the lives of the citizens? The LAPD or Mayor (Tom) Bradley?”

The crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause at her questions.

“Waging war on crime is a tough and thankless job,” Holte said. “We must go beyond the Rodney King incident.”

Wednesday’s hearing had its share of fireworks, however, as a vocal group repeatedly attempted to shout down Gates’ supporters. Called the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders, the group and its spokeswoman, Margaret Prescod, asked the commission to look into the killings of 29 women in South-Central Los Angeles since 1986. Prescod, who in the past has repeatedly alluded to “police involvement” in the killings and said police had bungled investigations of those murders and had intimidated women who had come forward in an effort to help apprehend suspects.

Gates’ supporters came from as far away as the Wilmington area and Orange County. Joann Wysocki of the Wilmington Homeowners Assn. questioned Christopher’s ability to lead an impartial investigation, saying he had contributed money to Mayor Bradley’s political campaigns. Wysocki asked that only the City Council be empowered to act on any recommendations from the commission since she believes Bradley and Christopher are biased.

Christopher did not respond to her comments.

Cameron Melvin of Orange County testified that if King “had pulled over when that CHP red light first came on, we wouldn’t be here.” Melvin called for more police training because “18 to 24 weeks is not enough to prepare officers for the psychological difficulties they must face on the street.”

The evening’s most dramatic testimony came from attorneys Don Cook and Robert Mann, who specialize in representing victims of police dog bites. They said that they have 20 cases now open against the Los Angeles Police Department, and that their analysis shows a disproportionate number of dog bites in the black community.

Cook and Mann said police dogs are more dangerous than an officer’s baton or feet, and they produced enlarged photographs of people they said are victims of police dog attacks. The photos showed bites to various parts of the body.

Mann told the commissioners that most bites occur in the 77th Division in South-Central Los Angeles and that the fewest occur in the Devonshire Division in the West San Fernando Valley.

Before Wednesday night’s hearing, Gates was a guest on Jackson’s talk show broadcast from the Advertising Club of Los Angeles luncheon at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

He said he could have retired with the maximum pension years ago, but has made the Police Department his life and is not about to start running in a crisis.

“I think it is the responsible thing to stay and deal with the issue,” the chief said. “I could have retired 12 years ago with maximum pension.”

Gates said the King controversy has been tough on him and his family. But he said that they have encouraged him to “hang in there,” and that he believes he also has “the confidence of 8,300 police officers. I think they will follow me anywhere.”

Meeting with reporters after the banquet, Gates said he is confident the commission will not find that he created a climate that led to the King beating. He said he is “very comfortable” with his record of disciplinary action, training and minority hiring.

He also suggested that if any changes need to be made within the department as a result of the King case, he would be the best person to make them.

Bradley created the commission April 1 in the wake of the March 3 police beating of King to conduct a “top-to-bottom review” of the department. The panel later absorbed a citizens committee that had been appointed by Gates.

Times staff writer Lois Timnick contributed to this story.