Philadelphia Supporters Laud Williams as Reformist

PHILADELPHIA —  City officials, police officers and citizens on Wednesday proffered praise--some robust, some faint--for departing Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams, who made Philadelphia’s police force more responsive to the community but who could not wholly eliminate brutality from its ranks.

“It’s good for L.A. and bad for Philly,” said Capt. Marshall Smith, commander of Philadelphia’s crime-ridden 22nd District. “His greatest strength is dealing with people outside the department, not being afraid to open up the department to criticism from outsiders. He’ll do what has to be done to get things back to where the community can feel some confidence in the people who are supposed to be out there protecting them.”

Others lauded Williams for putting more officers on the street even as overall staffing levels were declining and for dealing with critics in a civil and constructive manner. He was described as an ardent proponent of the concept known as community-based policing, which includes closer cooperation between neighborhood groups and the police, more foot patrols and greater civilian oversight of police activities.

Officials of the city’s police union, which has fought bitterly with Williams over disciplinary actions and promotion decisions, said they were pleased he has accepted the Los Angeles job. They said they expect Williams to take his reformist ideas to his new job, and predicted that it may prove uncomfortable for longtime members of the Los Angeles Police Department, as it has for many old-line officers in Philadelphia.

Capt. Rocky Rapone, first vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police union, said that Williams was too quick to demote or dismiss officers accused of misconduct to placate an angry public.

“I think he has been fair in most discipline cases, but on some issues he may have overreacted,” Rapone said.

Although Rapone did not cite the case, the union vigorously opposed Williams’ creation of a citizen panel to review complaints of excessive use of force by police against protesters during a Philadelphia visit by President Bush last year. The panel found that as many as 50 officers engaged in serious misconduct at the Bush rally, clubbing protesters, calling some gay demonstrators derogatory names and turning aside pleas for medical care for the injured.

Williams came down hard on a number of the offending officers. Department statistics show that the Philadelphia force has fired 50 officers for misconduct since Williams was named commissioner 3 1/2 years ago, and dozens more have been disciplined, suspended or demoted.

Rank-and-file police officers interviewed Wednesday were generous in their praise of the chief. Said Patrolman Frank Caputo: “He’s a good man. I think he brought a lot of honor and integrity back to the police force. We hate to see him go.”

Added Capt. John Apeldorn, head of the homicide bureau, “Community policing was his hallmark. I think that is exactly what you people need out there.” Such community-based policing already has been launched in seven Los Angeles divisions. Citizens’ groups are being formed to meet regularly with officers in an effort to foster trust in the department.

Detective John Kensey called Williams one of the “new breed” of police officers for whom individual rights count more than the brotherhood of the crime-fighting profession.

Karen Black of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, which represents many victims of alleged police brutality, said that while Williams’ “heart appears to be in the right place, he has not taken sufficient action to ensure that police abuse will not occur.”

She said Williams was trying to strike a balance between the police union, which believes that no police officer is ever guilty of misconduct, and a suspicious public, which all too vividly remembers the era of Frank L. Rizzo, the former police chief and mayor who once said, “The way to treat criminals is spacco il capo” --break their heads.

Williams has repeatedly said police abuse is endemic, in Philadelphia and across the nation. Black applauded Williams’ recognition of the problem, but said a solution has remained elusive in Philadelphia, where complaints of police brutality continue to mount. She questioned whether his good intentions would translate into real changes for the LAPD.

“The question is what actions can he take, or will he take, to change the culture, to change the values and reward system within the Police Department so that police misconduct, if not obliterated, is reduced markedly,” said attorney Black, who worked on police brutality cases in Los Angeles before moving to Philadelphia three years ago.

But having seen both Williams and outgoing LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates up close, Black maintained that Williams is infinitely better in all respects.

“Williams is rational,” she said. “Williams will not give a knee-jerk reaction that every officer from the beginning of time has done everything correctly and the complaining citizen must be wrong or be lying. He will investigate. He is far more open to the idea that police might abuse their power than Chief Gates ever was. He is a fair-minded person at heart. He does not encourage his men to commit crimes against the public or to openly condone racist or sexist or homophobic values or say that violence is necessary to combat crime.”

Community activist Portia Reason said Williams’ greatest strength is his ability to listen to critics. He won the respect of a skeptical Police Department, she said, and the difference has been apparent on the streets. She once complained about a problem on her block in the Strawberry Mansions neighborhood, and he drove down personally to see what the police could do about it.

Reason said Los Angeles is lucky to get Williams, but she was fearful that the city’s problems may be too great for a man she considers extraordinarily capable and concerned.

“We’re all praying for him,” she said.

Bunting reported from Philadelphia and Broder from Washington.