There was never any doubt that Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton and City Council Member Bernard Parks were not the best of buds. Parks was ousted as Police Chief and Bratton was brought in, after all. However, who knew that the feuding between the two chiefs was more than a few digs during press conferences?
The Weekly recently snagged a couple of prime examples of their political divide. In a series of letters sent by Parks to the police commission in 2007, the city councilman asked the commission for help dealing with Bratton’s seeming refusal to keep Parks up to date on “critical public safety incidents” in his district.
“In fact, it has always been my understanding that certain protocols exist and are to be followed by the LAPD, one of which is providing immediate notification to the Council office of any major incident,” wrote Parks.
According to Parks, in one instance, Bratton informed Council President Eric Garcetti (who was serving as acting mayor) about a murder in Park’s district before notifying Parks, who wrote, that – even five months later – he still had not heard “a word about it from the department.”
Then, yesterday, Parks' office criticized Bratton over a real doozy -- keeping Parks in the dark about a serial killer who has been murdering African American women in Parks' City Council District 8 since 1985. (See my cover story today.)
Maybe Parks shouldn’t feel too bad. Bratton was “too busy” to speak to the Weekly all this week about the very same serial killer who preys on young black women in South Los Angeles – a psycho the Weekly has dubbed the “Grim Sleeper.” But he had plenty of time for a really important press conference touting the arrest of the “Silverware Bandit” – a guy who was (and no, we aren't making this up) stealing silverware and cutlery on the Westside.
And Bratton recently was interviewed by reporters about how the paparazzi have become less annoying thanks to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan leading more relaxed lives. Check out Mayor Sam’s blog on the sitch.
Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Trackbacks
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt.laweekly.com/mt-tb.cgi/77193
Slideshows
-
Point Break Live! Beyond the Stage at the Dragonfly
L.A. Weekly went backstage with the cast of Point Break Live! at the Dragonfly to... More>> -
Cobrasnake: Where the Wild Things Are... Animal Spirits and Jungle Books
Cobrasnake parties and discovers where the wild things really are. -
M83 Packs Sold Out Henry Fonda Theater
M83 packed the Fonda on Saturday Nov. 29 for a sold out Thanksgiving weekend show. The lush... More>>
Recent Posts
- South L.A.: London's Future
- Stage Raw: The Little Dog Laughed
- Dog Day Evening
- Hillary's Emoluments Problem
- Over the Weekend: Point Break Live, M83 Sells Out Henry Fonda, Goth Party at Ruin Hollywood, Cobrasnake's Animal Instincts
- Can You Keanu? Point Break Live! Returns to Hollywood
- Queer Town: Power Lesbian Criticizes "No on 8" Campaign
- Stage Raw: Lodestone Says Goodnight and Good Luck
- "Familial DNA" Searching May be Key in Finding Serial Killer
- Stage Raw: Critic-O-Meter
Comments
There are 1 comments posted for this article.
You're absolutely right -- some guy who'se been robbing old ladies in the middle of the night mostly, crawling in through open doors and windows while they're sleeping, waking them up with a gun to their heads and threatening to blow their brains out if they don't hand over their valuables, is NO BIGGIE. They're just old bags on the westside, after all, and if they haven't had the foresight to actually become rich -- that's why they live in old, modest homes by themselves -- they're all the less important. Even though these are the very same little old ladies whose property taxes and trash fee taxes have been hiked 500% in the last few years to pay for cops -- which are hugely disproportionately dispatched to the "more dangerous" areas like Parks' 8th district. Gawd forbid these old bags should actually get any police protection -- neighborhood watch and Homeowner Associations are furious and putting huge pressure on the LAPD and their council office claiming that they're the ones getting way less than their share of police protection. (Actually, some old ladies have been approached during dayling at gunpoint and forced back inside, just to mix things up.) -- HOW on earth the sudden re-emergence of the South L A killer can be pinned on these little old ladies getting assaulted in their own homes is beyond me -- but then misusing class, race and geography for phony moral indignation and more socialistic redistibution of resources against those paying the bulk of taxes is always "the most progressive" form of agitprop.
Posted on August 28, 2008 11:51 AM by jill