Williams and 5 Insiders He Beat Out for the Job Meet

A career cop educated on the tough streets of Philadelphia, Willie L. Williams has long known the importance of protecting his back.

So it came as no surprise Thursday when the Philadelphia police commissioner, just hours after being named police chief-designate of Los Angeles, held a summit meeting with the five LAPD insiders he beat out for the job.

“I think the message was, ‘Hey, we all have a big job to do, and we’ve got to put behind us whatever competitiveness has been in this,’ ” Deputy Chief Matthew V. Hunt, a finalist for the chief’s job, said of the meeting with Williams. “We are starting on a new playing field.”

For nearly half an hour in the Van Nuys office of Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, another finalist, Williams worked hard to massage bruised egos and start building trust with his former competitors who could make or break the crucial first months of his tenure here.

“We’re just sort of feeling each other out right now,” Williams said as he left Kroeker’s third-floor office. “We had a nice private conversation with the other five finalists, and I think things are going to work out well.”

Williams was mostly tight-lipped about the brief meeting, but he and the other participants said the session did not touch upon any of the enormous problems confronting the LAPD, including a possible reshuffling of top management.

“Daryl Gates is still chief,” Williams said as he was quickly escorted down a narrow corridor away from reporters and television crews. “I will deal with the organization--with reorganization--when I start.”

Later, as he was ushered into a waiting car for a visit to the Police Academy, he indicated that he intends to expand community-based policing.

“But in terms of how it will work, or responsibilities and authority, those are decisions that will be made as I come on board,” Williams said.

After spending time with Williams on Thursday, several of the losing finalists said they were impressed and intended to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“He seems balanced and reasonable and seems to have a good sense of humor--and he doesn’t seem arrogant,” said Kroeker, who commands the department’s Valley Bureau. “He seems to be human. I feel even better every moment that passes.”

Indeed, the portly Williams drew laughter when he emerged from a closed-door meeting and was met by a throng of reporters. He shunned their questions as he stepped into the men’s room, protesting mockingly: “Turn the cameras off!”

Although all five finalists agreed to meet with Williams, and several of them characterized the session as productive, tension from the hard-fought battle to replace retiring Chief Gates apparently still remained.

Deputy Chief Glenn A. Levant skipped a morning City Hall news conference announcing Williams’ appointment--the only one of the finalists to do so--avoided reporters later in the day by slipping out a back door of the Van Nuys police station and failed to return phone calls.

Three of the other finalists--Hunt, Deputy Chief Bernard C. Parks and Assistant Chief David D. Dotson--also tried to duck questions after the afternoon meeting by using a rear stairway. But while Hunt and Dotson responded to a reporter’s questions in the police station parking lot, Parks remained cool and taciturn.

“I have no comment,” said Parks, who was ranked second-highest for the job and was the only other black candidate.

Dotson, who heads the LAPD office of administrative services, described the meeting as “very cordial” but said it did not go beyond pleasantries. “We said hello, got acquainted, shook hands,” he said.

None of the finalists said they intend to leave the LAPD because of Williams’ appointment. Instead, they said they felt obliged to help him rebuild a department devastated by the videotaped police beating a year ago of motorist Rodney G. King.

“There are no miraculous answers to any of our problems,” Hunt said.