Parks Known for Toughness, Political Savvy

Three years ago, Bernard C. Parks sat in the police chief’s office and listened stoically as his boss presented a bleak choice: Resign within 10 days or face a demotion and pay cut.

Parks had no reason to doubt then-Chief Willie L. Williams’ resolve, for--at that very moment--another police officer was waiting to move into Parks’ sixth-floor Parker Center office.

For many, such an incident would have signaled the end of a career. For Parks, it set in motion the events that ultimately would lead to Williams’ fall and--pending City Council approval--his own rise to power as the Los Angeles Police Department’s 52nd chief and the man who will lead the LAPD into the 21st century.

Deftly using his political skills, knowledge of department rules and carefully cultivated connections, Parks not only managed to stay on with the LAPD after Williams issued the ultimatum, but also convinced the City Council to grant him a $15,000 pay hike as compensation for accepting the demotion from assistant to deputy chief.

“Bernie, long ago, knew the value of nurturing his relationships with the policy makers,” said one high-ranking department official. “He knows the political landscape of Los Angeles and he knows how to work it.”

‘Very Intense and Focused’

Parks, 53, will have to rely on his 32 years of experience and relationships if he is to chart a vision for a department that, under his predecessor, seemed to lack direction for years. While few doubt that Parks is up to the task of managing the LAPD, some department observers question his commitment to reforms, while others wonder whether he has the ability to inspire and lead the rank and file.

Will he embrace and advance community policing? Will he push for reforms to reduce excessive force complaints and eliminate sexism and racism within the LAPD ranks? Will he further reduce crime and increase police productivity, particularly as measured by the number of arrests?

At 6 feet 2 and a lean 210 pounds, the Texas-born Parks exudes confidence. He has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian and hands-on administrator who does not suffer fools gladly.

He has earned his reputation as a strict disciplinarian for his readiness to take stern action against officers of all ranks who commit violations of department regulations, ranging from serious infractions like excessive force to relatively minor violations of arcane administrative procedures.

In 1993, he spearheaded an audit into allegations of sexual harassment at the West Los Angeles Division. At the time, that inquiry was the department’s most far-reaching attempt to root out such behavior and to hold senior officers responsible for the conduct of their subordinates.

Parks, however, is also the type of boss who conscientiously scrawls out personal notes to congratulate colleagues on promotions or good work.

“He is a very intense and focused individual,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who worked closely with Parks as a member of the City Council.

In fact, Parks is a student of the department and police work, paraphrasing the words of former police chiefs or academicians in conversations with visitors.

“The guy does not have a personal life,” Yaroslavsky added. “He’s always on his pager and mobile phone. He doesn’t know how to enjoy himself.”

Such single-minded preoccupation with police work has some of his critics concerned. They say Parks is overly zealous in his defense of LAPD policies and practices that come under fire. He sometimes appears reluctant to accept reforms, particularly when they don’t match his definition of good police work. And he does not project the warmth or gregariousness of somebody like LAPD Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker, who was Parks’ main competitor for the job.

Concerns Among Rank and File

Unlike Kroeker, Parks inspires suspicion among some of the rank and file.

Dave Hepburn, president of the Police Protective League, said that Parks’ tendency to micro-manage may cause his underlings to feel that they are not “part of the organization and are being second-guessed all the time.”

To Hepburn, Parks “is too top-down in his management style.”

Several command officers privately have expressed the same concerns.

“I don’t know if he has it in him to delegate,” said one. “The test will be to see how he performs in a crisis, and around here, there is always going to be a crisis.”

Two former LAPD chiefs, Ed Davis and Tom Reddin, however, give Parks high marks as an administrator and predict that he will be a good chief.

“He’s tough as a disciplinarian and I think it’s time to bring that back,” said Davis, one of the LAPD’s most successful chiefs. “He understands community-based policing and other issues important to the department right now. The organization will be in shipshape under Bernie.”

Reddin said Parks is “a purist, a by-the-book administrator and no-nonsense guy who sets tasks and gets them done.” But the former chief said he also believed that Kroeker would do well in the chief’s position.

“What would be best for the department would be if you could grind their personalities together into one chief,” he said.

Some department insiders expect Parks to make swift changes.

“The organization is going to be much more professional than it’s been. We’ll have much more accountability, smoother interactions with city government, more involvement with professionals in the law enforcement community,” said Deputy Chief David Gascon, who is Parks’ close friend.

As for the rank-and-file officers, Gascon believes support already has grown for Parks. “They’d prefer to be led by someone competent in and of the LAPD,” Gascon said.

Parks’ supporters also contend that he is one of the LAPD’s most ardent advocates of reform, working internally to crack down on excessive force problems and create career opportunities for minorities.

In a recent interview, Parks said he plans to move quickly and is particularly interested in improving the “mental health” of officers because he believes many personnel problems occur as a result of job stress. Healthier officers, he said, will work better with their colleagues and provide better service.

With Parks in the job, the LAPD for the first time in at least a decade gets a leader who has strong ties with the political establishment, particularly Mayor Richard Riordan.

Parks is frequently seen at civic events where some of the most powerful elected officials gather. When asked what his hobbies are, he lists golf, the theater and “attending community functions.”

He is savvy enough to keep city officials abreast of police matters and respond to their concerns as quickly as possible.

Several months ago, Parks and other department officials flew to New York City at the mayor’s request to study a much heralded police program that has significantly cut crime, using up-to-the-minute statistics to help identify problem areas and better deploy resources. In short order, Parks implemented a similar pilot program in the San Fernando Valley, much to the mayor’s pleasure.

Certainly, the department needs a chief who can work with the City Council and the mayor but also fend them off when their needs and requests pull the organization in different directions.

“Politics and police work are a deadly combination,” said one department official. “Kind of like drinking and driving.”

Many department insiders believe Parks will shield the department from those they derisively call their 21 bosses: The five police commissioners, 15 council members and the mayor.

Even Riordan said he doesn’t want “a yes person. I want a thoughtful person.”

As one City Hall official said: “Parks is going to call them as he sees them on a variety of issues. . . . He’s not afraid to be unpopular.”

In other words, he speaks his mind.

Such was the case when he was Williams’ top assistant. In meetings with City Hall officials, Parks made no secret of his concerns about his boss’ leadership.

To some LAPD officials, Parks was disloyal to Williams; to others, he was simply telling the truth when his opinion was asked. Whichever is the case, friction developed between the two and Parks was publicly humiliated by his September 1994 demotion.

“I told him to quit the department after the way he was treated and go get rich someplace else,” Yaroslavsky said.

Parks said he stayed because he loves his job. Some acquaintances said he also thought Williams would self-destruct and he might get a chance to replace him.

After his demotion, sources inside the department say, Parks spent a great deal of time--both on the job and on his own--researching police departments locally and in other areas, studying how to make the LAPD better, stronger and more effective.

He already has a written plan for reorganizing the department’s management structure, the sources say. And he has already spoken with at least some high-ranking LAPD officers about their next position.

Today, Parks regards the demotion as just another event in a long career with the LAPD that started in 1965, several years after he graduated from high school, where he was a track and football standout. He entered the Police Academy, he said, because he heard a radio commercial and thought that the job and the pay sounded interesting.

Moving up the chain of command is hard enough in any organization, but as one of the few African Americans amid predominantly white LAPD supervisors, advancement was even more difficult.

Parks, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees while working full time, made it a point to always be well-prepared when he sought a promotion. And, he was always very confident.

“When he put his mind to it, he could write a big paper. He tested real well,” said Long Beach Assistant City Manager Joseph Rouzan, a former LAPD captain who worked with Parks and co-founded the department’s black officers association with him. “He was a decent interviewer, but it was more his ability to put it on paper.”

Throughout his career, Parks and his family repeated a private ritual each time he applied for a promotion: They would go out and buy the insignia that signified the higher rank, even before the promotions were announced.

On one occasion he failed to get the promotion he sought. That was five years ago, when he applied for the chief’s job. He and his family bought the four stars worn on the chief’s collar when he earned the highest ranking among LAPD candidates. But as it turned out, Parks came within one vote of the job, losing out to Williams.

Although he was deeply disappointed, Parks gave the stars he had purchased for himself to Williams at a luncheon soon after the new chief’s arrival. It was a gesture by Parks, a source said, intended to demonstrate his willingness to work with the new chief and help him succeed. Such goodwill ended a short while later.

The last five years have been difficult for Parks.

“It’s been tough,” he said in a recent interview, “but it’s not cancer, either.”

Times staff writers Beth Shuster and Jim Newton contributed to this story.

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Profile: Bernard C. Parks

* Age: 53

* Residence: Los Angeles

* Education: Bachelor’s degree in public management, Pepperdine University; master’s in public administration, USC

* Career highlights: Has held numerous assignments with the LAPD, including training, narcotics, patrol, detective and internal affairs work. Promoted to assistant chief under former Chief Willie L. Williams, but was demoted back to deputy chief two years later.

* Interests: Golf, attending plays and community functions, spending time with his children and grandchildren

* Family: Married, with four adult children; three daughters and one son.