Jack Dunphy on the LAPD's New Chief

Patterico has posted Jack Dunphy's piece on the LAPD's new chief.

I too want to congratulate Chief Beck. Although I never worked for him, I heard good things about him. I worked for Moore when he was a new sergeant at Foothill with what seemed a fraction of the patrol experience that many of us possessed. Back then he struck me as young and diplomatic - attributes that work better for those he reported to than those who reported to him.

I expect that Villaraigosa was impressed by Moore's willingness to do what the Vignali brothers want him to do. Although none of the chiefs have the protections that allow our administrators to behave like real chiefs of police, Beck was probably the right choice for LA residents and the officers who will work for him. I wish him well.

I also worked with and for Earl Paysinger. He was a terrific cop and training officer - but that was years ago under the LAPD's last real police chief, Daryl Gates. I have no idea what happened along the way. Regardless, I couldn't be more pleased that LA got rid of Bratton. While he was better than Parks, I had no desire to work for an East Coast chief.

Here are Dunphy's comments:

My column on Charlie Beck’s appointment as LAPD’s next chief is up on Pajamas Media today. I point out the welcome differences between Beck and his predecessor, differences also discussed in today’s Los Angeles Times.

I was surprised to read, in Wednesday’s L.A. Times, that Deputy Chief Michel Moore had made such a strong impression on the police commission as they narrowed the field of contenders down to three. It was generally assumed within the department that the three finalists would be Beck, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, and either the department’s highest-ranking black officer, Earl Paysinger, or one of the two high-ranking women, Assistant Chief Sharon Papa or Deputy Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur.

This is Los Angeles, after all, where one has come to expect identity politics to play a role.

So while it was surprising to see Moore among the finalists, I was all the more taken aback to read that the commission had ranked him ahead of Beck and McDonnell when they submitted the names to Mayor Villaraigosa, and that Villaraigosa had been “bowled over” by Moore during their one-on-one interview. This points out a flaw that has long plagued the LAPD’s promotion process. The department’s upper ranks are liberally supplied with people who know how to take tests and give great interviews, but who nonetheless are ineffective leaders. I have no doubt that Moore was impressive in his talks with the police commissioners and the mayor, but when it comes to leading a police department he isn’t in the same league with either Beck or McDonnell, a fact plainly obvious to the department’s rank and file but not, apparently, to the commission and the mayor.

The Huffington Post discussed Beck’s solid reputation with the rank and file, pointing out that “[i]n 2003, Bratton appointed Beck captain of the Rampart Division, which was struggling with fallout from a 1999 corruption scandal in its anti-gang unit.”

What wasn’t mentioned was that Beck had been preceded as Rampart’s commanding officer by Michel Moore, who was installed by former Chief Bernard Parks following the explosion of the Rampart scandal.

The officers at Rampart had already been demoralized by the scandal, which, we must remember, was confined to a handful of officers. But Moore’s tenure at Rampart made things even worse, exemplifying the excesses of the Parks years that brought the LAPD close to ruin.

Discipline was unduly harsh and capriciously meted out, with officers suspended for petty infractions that would ordinarily have resulted in nothing more than a chewing out from the watch commander.

Moore’s departure from Rampart was celebrated, and Beck’s tenure there was marked by improved morale and falling crime, all accomplished without even a hint of corruption. When Beck received his well-deserved promotion to commander, a huge contingent of Rampart officers filled the Parker Center auditorium to see him receive his new badge and be sworn in. Such displays of support for someone so high in the chain of command are all but unheard of. Moore’s promotion ceremonies could have been held in the men’s room with plenty of room to spare.

I think most in the LAPD would have been just as pleased had Jim McDonnell been selected, but it’s frightening to know that Moore, who has 90 percent of William Bratton’s arrogance but only five percent of his talent, came so close to being
chosen. –Jack Dunphy