Spit and Polish Day for the LAPD

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street station buffed badges and shined shoes in preparation for their first divisional inspection in seven years Friday in a ritual borrowed from military tradition -- and cherished by the LAPD.

The inspection came as the LAPD faced criticism for the recent videotaped beating of a car-theft suspect and as commanders sought to boost morale and keep officers focused on daily tasks.

Most 77th officers spend their time chasing radio calls in the department’s more casual short-sleeved blues or working as plain-clothes detectives. So for them, inspection day meant pulling out class A uniforms they hadn’t worn in months or years. Many had spent the previous night shining shoes or dabbing Brasso brass polish on badges. Some even bought new gear.

“Last time I wore this? I can’t remember,” said Det. Javier Lozano, who spends most of his days tracking down assault suspects in a shirt and tie.

But “it’s all right,” Lozano said, grinning and giving his collar a tug. “You know: Show a little pride, dress up, polish all our buttons.”

Commanders had scheduled the event on the roof of the division’s parking garage long before the June beating of car-theft suspect Stanley Miller by officers from a neighboring division. The incident generated a new wave of controversy for the department, but South Bureau Deputy Chief Earl Paysinger said the inspection was timely.

“Our character has been challenged by recent events,” he said. “This gets us together to define who we are.”

The 77th Street Division is headquartered just south of Florence Avenue and east of the Harbor Freeway. Its nearly 400 officers lead the city in violent-crime arrests.

Miller’s beating has been a topic of conversation among officers there lately, but day to day, the most pressing concern is how to meet the workload with available manpower. The division is down about 36 officers from last year, supervisors said.

Commanders said the event was as much about bonding as about discipline. Officers grinned and ribbed each other as they got instructions for drills that some weren’t too smooth at.

But when Police Chief William J. Bratton arrived, officers snapped to, faces serious, eyes ahead.

Bratton walked up and down the lines, greeting each of the nearly 200 officers who stood at attention with guns across their chests.

“You look like you’ve been in the military,” Bratton said to an officer with an exceptionally soldierly stance. “Air Force,” replied Officer William Limtiaco briskly. “Twenty years.”

Paysinger walked with Bratton, straightening the occasional hat.

Afterward Bratton gave a pep talk, urging officers to help pass a countywide proposition in November for a half-cent sales tax for police. Bratton called the measure, “a once-in-a-generation possibility to make a difference in this city.”

He also offered praise and thanks, referring only obliquely to the Miller beating: The story of the LAPD, he told circled officers, “from time to time, is not a good story.”

“When it isn’t,” he said, “we will tell that openly and honestly, but most days it is a story of courage and hard work and getting the job done.”