LAPD chief nominee touts ties to the rank and file
For a man widely seen as the disciple of recently departed LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, Charlie Beck today exhibited some notable contrasts in style and strategy from the man he was tapped to replace.
In an interview with Times reporters, editors and editorial board members this morning, Deputy Chief Beck portrayed himself as a leader rooted by his ties to rank-and-file officers, as opposed to Bratton, who reformed the department by focusing on the its upper echelon.
Beck, a 32-year veteran, said he would concentrate on taking reforms Bratton introduced and pushing them down into the mind-set of the thousands of officers who make up the guts of the organization.
“The only way that real change is made is from the bottom up,” he said. “You can mandate change from the top … but the only way an organization really changes is from the roots up; that’s much more powerful. So what you’ll see is different with me is I’m going to concentrate on the roots of the organization."
He said Bratton was successful in getting management to accept his progressive vision for the LAPD because "that’s his wheelhouse. With me, my wheelhouse is much more about the rank and file. I think that will be the major difference. ... I see this as an evolution more than a revolution.”
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.”
Strategically, Beck added, he planned to give greater authority to the captains who run the department’s dozens of field stations. Currently, decisions on how to deploy a large segment of the department’s force are made by commanders in the LAPD’s headquarters. Field captains should have more discretion, Beck said.
Amid debate over the size of the force and whether the city should continue to fund a push by the mayor to add 1,000 officers, Beck said he believes the current number of officers, which hovers near 10,000, should be viewed as “a floor, a basement.” Any drop in numbers, he said, would make it difficult to continue with gains made under Bratton.
“I think by controlling gang violence, we can be the safest city [in the nation] and we should be. But it’s going to be difficult to do at low deployment levels. So if you want to solve problems, if you want to get at the core issues that have significant impact on the city, you need to have the resources to do it."
Beck rose quickly through the ranks under Bratton and won broad praise from officers and LAPD critics alike for his ability to fight crime and pursue progressive ideas on policing championed by Bratton.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday selected Beck to become the 55th chief of the department. His appointment must be ratified by the City Council in a vote expected in coming weeks.
-- Joel Rubin
