Chief Tells Why Police Were Fired

One was fired for soliciting a bribe in the form of Dodger tickets; another for threatening to kill his wife and child. One was canned for committing “sex acts” on duty. Yet another was let go for running an illegal pyramid scheme.

All in all, 29 Los Angeles Police Department officers have been terminated over the past 18 months, according to a report released Tuesday.

In an attempt to blunt criticism from police union officials who call him an oppressive and arbitrary disciplinarian, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks submitted a report to his Police Commission bosses showing precisely why officers have been getting the ax.

Over the past six months, Parks has terminated 19 officers, compared to only four dismissals for the same period last year, the report shows. The report does not reveal the names of the officers punished, nor does it provide many details beyond a description of the misconduct.

“Authority to discipline tenured officers rests solely with the chief of police,” Parks said in the report. “However, with that authority comes the responsibility to ensure a fair and consistent application of discipline, prefaced by clearly delineated expectations.

“I believe this report dispels the myth that there is unnecessarily harsh treatment in the disciplinary system,” Parks said.

Because the report covers the past 18 months ending in June, it is unclear exactly who Parks disciplined and who former Chiefs Willie L. Williams and Bayan Lewis punished during the first seven months of 1997, before Parks took over.

In addition to the terminations, the report shows that 65 of the department’s 9,700 officers have been suspended for 22 days or more over the past year and a half. The report does not specify which chief imposed those penalties or how many they each imposed.

Of the officers fired by the three chiefs during that 18-month period, more than a third of those were guilty of “conduct unbecoming” an officer, ranging from improper use of department computers to bigamy.

Six officers were terminated after they were found guilty of “dishonesty” charges, four for improper remarks, three for sexual misconduct, two for domestic violence and one each for theft, unauthorized use of force, alcohol abuse and psychological unfitness.

Leaders of the Police Protective League, the department’s major union, said they have no problem with bad cops being punished.

“We all agree if they are guilty of those charges they should be fired. We don’t like rotten apples in the barrel either,” said Gary Fullerton, a director with the Los Angeles Protective League.

“Our problem is with the process. It’s unfair. Officers are being found guilty when the evidence doesn’t support the charges,” he said.

Under the City Charter, officers facing long suspensions and terminations have their cases reviewed by two senior police officials and a civilian in a “board of rights” hearing, which is akin to a trial. That panel recommends punishment to the chief. The chief can either impose the recommended punishment or lower it. He cannot, however, raise it.

Fullerton alleged that the chief has been intimidating his senior police officials to where they convict innocent officers just so the chief won’t accuse them of being soft on discipline.

“He’s got them running scared,” he said, adding that some top officers were “called onto the carpet” for recommending light punishments.

Parks has called discipline one of his most important duties as chief. During his first year in office, he has established a new discipline guideline mapping out his philosophy on punishment. That guideline replaced one drafted by a Police Commission task force.

Moreover, the chief also has been seeking to shore up his power to discipline officers by recommending a series of changes to the City Charter.