Now that the formality of naming Charlie Beck as Chief of Police is over, the Times tells us it was always a done deal, that Bill Bratton lobbied hard for months for his favorite son and it was only at the last minute that the mayor actually gave it any thought.
After the fact disclosures of what was going on behind the scenes is amusing but does nothing to enlighten or enhance the public debate.
In fact, the debate, such as it was. was all in private and, in the end, made no difference whatsoever.
The mayor whose sole actual achievement -- as opposed to greening LA, fixing the schools and building the subway to the sea which won't come to fruition for years -- is reducing crime. Of course, the real credit for that goes to Bratton.
With his public standing so low he can't run for governor, was the mayor really going to take the risk of choosing his own chief instead of Bratton's?
Joel Rubin in the Times tells us the mayor actually paid attention to the question over the weekend after the Police Commission had recommended Michel Moore, Jim McDonnell ahead of Beck.
Moore, the Valley chief, is smart, studied hard in Bratton's school of police and hard-working to the point his subordinates call him Micro-Mike. He was the star of the auditions and his performance appear to have forced the mayor into the uncomfortable position of thinking about his choice rather than just doing what Bratton told him.
McDonnell, the LAPD's No. 2 cop, has the most experience, actually was running the department during Bratton's many absences and was far and away the most popular choice with the public and police.
But it was always Beck's job because he was Bratton's choice.
"I was certain Bratton's endorsement would be crucial. But he went too far. He became an albatross," someone closely involved in the selection process told the Times.
Really, Bratton went too far? Hard to believe since he went as far as he wanted whenever he wanted for the last seven years.
The real question now is who's chief is he? Bratton's? The mayor's? The LAPD's?
Beck has a tough act to follow.
After the fact disclosures of what was going on behind the scenes is amusing but does nothing to enlighten or enhance the public debate.
In fact, the debate, such as it was. was all in private and, in the end, made no difference whatsoever.
The mayor whose sole actual achievement -- as opposed to greening LA, fixing the schools and building the subway to the sea which won't come to fruition for years -- is reducing crime. Of course, the real credit for that goes to Bratton.
With his public standing so low he can't run for governor, was the mayor really going to take the risk of choosing his own chief instead of Bratton's?
Joel Rubin in the Times tells us the mayor actually paid attention to the question over the weekend after the Police Commission had recommended Michel Moore, Jim McDonnell ahead of Beck.
Moore, the Valley chief, is smart, studied hard in Bratton's school of police and hard-working to the point his subordinates call him Micro-Mike. He was the star of the auditions and his performance appear to have forced the mayor into the uncomfortable position of thinking about his choice rather than just doing what Bratton told him.
McDonnell, the LAPD's No. 2 cop, has the most experience, actually was running the department during Bratton's many absences and was far and away the most popular choice with the public and police.
But it was always Beck's job because he was Bratton's choice.
"I was certain Bratton's endorsement would be crucial. But he went too far. He became an albatross," someone closely involved in the selection process told the Times.
Really, Bratton went too far? Hard to believe since he went as far as he wanted whenever he wanted for the last seven years.
The real question now is who's chief is he? Bratton's? The mayor's? The LAPD's?
Beck has a tough act to follow.
Bratton was untouchable. He honed his skills in the big leagues of
New York and Boston where the politicians, the press and the public
play hardball, not softball like in LA.
He jumped in front of controversies like the May Day rally and kept them under control. He treated the City Council as if it were irrelevant while flattering the egos of individual members. He learned from his mistakes with Giuliani and always made sure Villaraigosa stood in the foreground of pictures. Most of all, he oversaw a dramatic drop in crime.
But crime goes up and crime goes down just like the stock market and for reasons that are not always clear.
There's good reason to believe crime in LA is about as low as it can get given the soaring poverty and unemployment rates, given the fact LA is still the nation's gang capital.
That was the heart of the mayor's dilemma. How could he duck responsibility If crime started going up because Moore and his proposals for innovation didn't work out or because McDonnell proved to be not tough enough?
Beck, the commission's third choice, was the safe choice, Bratton's choice.
The questions the new chief will have to answer soon enough is whether he can pull together a leadership team that gives him credibility within the LAPD, whether he can fend off being politicized by the mayor and the council like nearly every other city department head and whether he can stand up to a level of scrutiny that Bratton never faced.
It's asking a lot of a guy with limited command experience who was fast-tracked up the ranks by Bratton, the toughest in LA, just ask Gates, Williams and Parks.
He jumped in front of controversies like the May Day rally and kept them under control. He treated the City Council as if it were irrelevant while flattering the egos of individual members. He learned from his mistakes with Giuliani and always made sure Villaraigosa stood in the foreground of pictures. Most of all, he oversaw a dramatic drop in crime.
But crime goes up and crime goes down just like the stock market and for reasons that are not always clear.
There's good reason to believe crime in LA is about as low as it can get given the soaring poverty and unemployment rates, given the fact LA is still the nation's gang capital.
That was the heart of the mayor's dilemma. How could he duck responsibility If crime started going up because Moore and his proposals for innovation didn't work out or because McDonnell proved to be not tough enough?
Beck, the commission's third choice, was the safe choice, Bratton's choice.
The questions the new chief will have to answer soon enough is whether he can pull together a leadership team that gives him credibility within the LAPD, whether he can fend off being politicized by the mayor and the council like nearly every other city department head and whether he can stand up to a level of scrutiny that Bratton never faced.
It's asking a lot of a guy with limited command experience who was fast-tracked up the ranks by Bratton, the toughest in LA, just ask Gates, Williams and Parks.
Ron Kaye
Great post!!!! LA Times must have received a call from the Mayor's office saying you need to fix it after the bad mouthing all over the city yesterday. The entire city knows the selection process was a sham to begin with and all those people i.e. police commissioners, advisory board people, have had their creditability thrown out the window cause they all folded. Beck being led around the city like Antonio's puppy is hard to watch. Beck isn't man enough to stand up to anyone and will be nothing more then a lapdog to the likes of Antonio, Zine, Smith, Police Political League and others. He comes out of the gate already with baggage and Times hurt him even more with their story. Antonio having to call Rick Caruso and Gates shows his insecurity and lack of leadership to have confidence to make a decision on his own. Beck only Deputy Chief for 3 years shows lack of experience. Notice on Mayor's website they are really exaggerating Beck's bio and are so dumb even giving him titles that don't exist in LAPD.
Funny, you refer to Moore as "Micro-Mike" and then opine that he should be Chief. Micromanaging is not a good quality. You have to delegate in a department this large and complex. But, I guess that isn't important to you.
The Times story was devastating for Beck. Can you imagine the uproar awarding a contract to the team that scored last? The Times would be all over it. Instead they allowed to be used by the Mayor and his staff.
Cops hate to see their police dept. being used by a clown of a Mayor and degraded in the news. Notice the clowncil morons jumping on the bandwagon. What was Eric Garcetti doing in the South meeting yesterday when he is Hollywood area? The confirmation hearing will be straight out of the Twilight zone with all of them grandstanding as if they care. Angelenos know the morons on council never supported their police and they gave DWP union goons a raise instead. Van Nuys as a chance to be vocal and outraged and ask the tough questions or make it known how unhappy they are. The Mayor insulted their candidate Moore making him jump through hoops for fun and photo ops all to remake Antonio's image. Rumors are swirling command staff are seething at the despictable behavior of the Mayor.
Yes, 11:00AM. The cops are upset for this circus like behavior.
I am so tired of this amateur show featuring the
"Look at me" mayor of all time - and now the world's greatest newspaper, the LATimes, takes its turn and ends up making a joke of our police department. Yes, this show is put on for us and
costs way more than the Michael Jackson memorial two-week event.
When,if ever, you guys want to get serious, you have a lot of thinking, hard-working people out here who need some answers to some tough questions. Otherwise, we need to take you all to court.
Mayor has his staffers calling and sending e-mails to everyone on their outdated lists and told LAPD stations to do the same sending out info to go to the bullshit community meetings. Bastards should have done that first with 3 candidates. Were they so afraid Beck wouldn't be as well liked and more popular then the other two? You bet your ass!!! Cost of this travesty has to be big. Its a dog & pony show for the Mayor, the new Chief who now is being targeted as corrupt for being part of the unfair selection process, and the idiot council members. Cops are being told to be there to make one big happy family photo. But the joke is on Antonio and his bullshit. No one believes the LA Times story and shame on Joel Rubin. Why didn't he do the story over the weekend or yesterday?? He confirmed what all the media blogs and other websites have been saying and the process WAS BULLSHIT, CORRUPT AND A DONE DEAL. Bastard Antonio is all about him. I hope those going to this bullshit meetings boo his ass off the microphone and let your anger and the insult to our city and disrespect for our cops be known. Unhappy Valley resident
Kind of arrogant for Beck to be doing interviews with the LA Slimes before he's confirmed. Is he another media whore in the making this soon? Is it me or doesn't it seem awfully suspicious the LA Slimes and Joel Rubin gets the interview?
"In an interview with Times reporters, editors and editorial board members this morning, Deputy Chief Beck portrayed himself as a leader....Beck took a lighthearted jab at Bratton, saying he would continue with Bratton’s practice of consulting with people with different points of view on subjects, but deadpanned, “I think I have a little more of a common touch, much more of a common touch. I think that maybe at the end of the day you’ll think of me more of a cop’s chief rather than a leader-manager.”
11 AM, I hate it when people say stupid things like, "Rumors are swirling..." when they're really only swirling around in your imagination. If you had proof of such rumors, you would have posted your source.
Oh sure. The Mayor has the power to just call up the Times and have them quell the swirling rumors.
You guys are too much.
Um yeah, organize away.
5:06PM I`m not 11:00AM, but time will tell. ALWAYS works that way.
Would it be bad taste to say the New Police Chief's Daughter is HOTTTTT!
Would it be bad taste to say the New Police Chief's Daughter is HOTTTTT!
"Would it be bad taste to say the New Police Chief's Daughter is HOTTTTT!"
Only if you're the Mayor...
"Would it be bad taste to say the New Police Chief's Daughter is HOTTTTT!"
Only if you're the Mayor...
Antonio thru another of his trusted advisors under the bus........
"Would it be bad taste to say the New Police Chief's Daughter is HOTTTTT!"
Only if you're each going to be impatient and not allow your comment to go through after you click on Submit. And then click it again because you thought it was taking too long.
But in reality, we just have to read your immature crap 4 times!
For the record, it's not bad taste, just annoying to read more than once.
You can kiss LAPD goodbye as long as the clown of a Mayor is trying to control and take over.
The logical place for Beck to get feedback and questions are on the lapdonline.org page where Bratton had similar postings. BUT NO.. The clown Mayor puts it on HIS WEB SITE TO CONTROL what people will be asking and their feedback. This clown is mentally sick and needs Dr. Phil desperately for his narcissistic and control issues. The clown has figured out people do like their police and now he's using it to get attention for himself and take credit for everything previous Chief left behind.
People should just e-mail Charlie Beck directly themselves and not have to go through the Clown of a Mayor.
...What do you think the future of the department should be? Have questions about the direction of the LAPD? Ask the Chief!
Use the form below to ask Charlie Beck, the new Chief of Police, a question and he'll be answering as many as he can here on this page.
Thank you Anannymous 3:26, for contributing from your "Posting For Dummies" book.
In the second pair of posts, it wasn't impatience, but rather trying to hit the button, hoping to interrupt the transmission in time to put in the forgotten Name, so as not to be annoynymous in taking the straight line, and turning the presumption of immaturity from the poster to the mayor.
Goodnaturly, one hopes, you'll take this apology, in the same spirit of irony that let you to post the quip a 5th time.