Comments on: Tales of the Chief

By: richard locicero

richard locicero — Tue, 08 May 2007 22:15:29 +0000

There’s another factor at work here. The public view of the police. And its not very good. I’m not talking about South Central or Eastside. I’m talking the Valley and the West Side. There people treat the cops like they were vicious police dogs. Yeah, they guard the property and keep those “Bad Elements” out of Beverlywood and Encino, but everyone has had a rude encounter at a traffic stop or something similiar. So while the police are tolerated they are not loved. And come election time it shows in the almost impossible task of passing a bond issue for new cop houses or eqt. Keep em on short rations and joke about Simi Valley!

By: listener_on_the_sidelines

listener_on_the_sidelines — Tue, 08 May 2007 20:44:14 +0000

Yup, Woody. And, I also expect there is a private side, too. Or, would you prefer that folks not consider that?

By: Woody

Woody — Tue, 08 May 2007 20:16:02 +0000

Listener and Celeste seem to think that police don’t stick up for their friends. I suspect that most in the ranks are sympathizing with and backing those who are being singled out–to the extent that threats from leadership allows them to display that openly.

By: The Bad Acolyte

The Bad Acolyte — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:20:13 +0000

Forgive me for appearing to go off topic, but Bill Bratton is such a blast of fresh air (even if at his core he’s an opportunist and hypocrite, he’s still the smartest man in city government. Sorry, Eric), that I can’t help but challenge him to bring L.A.’s most egregious felon to justice. Chief, if you truly have a sense of right and wrong, go arrest Cardinal Roger Mahony on suspicion of mulitple felony counts of harboring priests good for sex acts with little boys dating back three decades. Come on, Chief. I mean, if you can push around that dirty deputy chief Carter, you can take down the man in the cloth. Bless you, Chief.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:00:41 +0000

Listener, I suspect you’re right. At least I hope so.

More and more, I think good management is like good parenting. (And I don’t mean that in any diminutive way at all.) People need to feel recognized, valued, secure, like they have a meaningful place in the “family,” but if you break the family rules there has to be swift and appropriate discipline. Those my-kid’s-always-right parents never seem to have a happy outcome. My friend the shrink and author, Stephanie Marston, is teaching parenting as a management practice to corporations, and it holds up pretty well—-all of which would suggest that your thesis is right.

By the way, that local story of yours sounds tragic but fascinating. When did it occur?

By: listener_on_the_sidelines

listener_on_the_sidelines — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:50:26 +0000

I wouldn’t assume a lot of demoralized cops – the 60 asked to stand down aside. There was a murder awhile back that involved the wives of a policeman and a deputy sheriff’s in the community where I live. Suffice it to say, the horrible outcome of an apparent ‘love triangle’ sent community keyboards to the local newspaper’s comments section into overdrive. It’s the stuff of daytime soaps, CSI, and HBO movies. I’d be surprised if the newspaper didn’t have to add an additional server to handle the load. The curious thing was it seems as though other police officers, sheriff’s deputies, dispatchers, attorneys, and maybe even some folks from the DA’s office were weighing in as well. Folks could post without registering and weren’t required to use any kind of screen name. Arguments broke out among what appeared to be some of the front line players over procedures, protocols, and policies. It was fascinating to watch it unfold. Point being, I wouldn’t assume all of LAPD is demoralized by Bratton’s approach. The union has to take whatever stance it takes, make whatever noises it has to make, and do what a ‘union’ has to do. But Bratton’s remedies may find more support within the rank and file than might be apparent on the surface. All of the actors have their ‘public’ face to maintain, but they have a ‘private’ face as well.

By: Pokey

Pokey — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:45:44 +0000

The commander who gave the order and was locally in charge is most culpable for the outcome of the MacArthur Park incident.

The demotion of Deputy Chief Carter was a smart move by Bratton and the most intelligent response. Carter had 30 plus years of experience and was in charge of over 1000 officers. He should have made better decisions.

By: Woody

Woody — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:15:28 +0000

Acting to discipline two officers at command staff level, before any investigations are concluded, is unusual to say the leastÃ¢â‚¬â€and gutsy on BrattonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s part. …So far, though, heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s making all the right movesÃ¢â‚¬â€in this instance anyway.

Whenever I’ve had to let an employee go, I took it as more of a failure on my part than on theirs. But, at least I always made sure that they knew where performance needed improving and gave them a chance to change.

However, the Chief is more concerned with appeasing a radical lynch mob than in doing the right thing. I rarely side with unions, but I will for now. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard before being fired or demoted.

The Chief is a coward.