LA leaders praise departing LAPD chief

Los Angeles city leaders widely praised LAPD chief Bill Bratton’s success at fighting crime after he announced today he’s leaving his post in several months, three years before his term is up. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has this report.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: At the start of a City Hall news conference, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reminded reporters how much the LAPD’s improved under Bratton’s leadership.

Antonio Villaraigosa: A decade ago, a dark cloud hung over the LAPD. Tales of corruption tarnished the department’s reputation. Activists and community members accused our men and women in uniform of excessive force.

Guzman-Lopez: The mayor said that in seven years, Bratton successfully fought crime and worked to heal relations between officers and the city’s African-American, Latino, and working class people they’re sworn to serve and protect.

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Some of those accusations came from former L.A. Urban League President John Mack. He’s now the president of L.A.’s civilian police commission. Mack said Bratton’s changed him from an LAPD critic to a believer.

John Mack: I’m in mourning today, now I understand that we have to get past the mourning. But the good news is that the Los Angeles Police Department is not going to fall apart because of what Bill Bratton has done in building the foundation for this organization.

Guzman-Lopez: Bratton infused technology into LAPD policing and hired and promoted top staff who embraced his approach. Later in the day at the police academy, he told many of his top commanders that they deserve the praise.

William Bratton: You have achieved great things over these last seven years. Homicide’s down 54 percent, overall violent crime down 53 percent, overall crime down 38 percent, gang crime down dramatically.

Guzman-Lopez: They responded to his words with a standing ovation.

[Officers clap]

Guzman-Lopez: The civilian police commission will begin a wide search for Bratton’s replacement. The police chief, who rarely refrains from offering his opinion, told his commanders who he’d like to succeed him.

Bratton: And I would hope as the process moves forward with the headhunters, etcetera, that at the end, when it comes down to the six that the commission reviews and the three that the commission reviews, I hope and I fully expect that among those if not all of those will be people in this room.

Guzman-Lopez: Bratton spoke in the police academy’s Darryl Gates Lounge, a reminder of stormier times in the department. Longtime chief Gates’s handling of the L.A. riots 17 years ago led to his retirement. The police commission appointed two successors who sought but were denied second terms. It’s been a long time since the top cop at the LAPD has left the job with a smile on his face.