Police Watchdog Accuses Bosses of Weakening Post

A day after announcing her plans to resign, the Los Angeles Police Department’s civilian watchdog charged Wednesday that the current Police Commission undermined her independence and power, turning the post into a sham.

“The public is being defrauded into thinking that it has an independent inspector general,� said Katherine Mader, the first person to fill the post. “I can’t be part of that fraud.�

Mader’s resignation stoked an emerging debate over whether the inspector general has the power, access and independence to fulfill the objectives of the groundbreaking 1991 Christopher Commission report, which proposed the position. That debate already has engaged the leaders of two commissions reviewing the City Charter and the LAPD’s civilian oversight board, and is to be the subject of a special City Council hearing next month.

“I never believe in the status quo. I think debate is always healthy,� Commissioner Gerald L. Chaleff said. “Do I think [the inspector general’s position] is exactly what the Christopher Commission recommended? Probably not.�

Mader, who will step down Jan. 1 after 2 1/2 years on the job, said her office had been rendered impotent. She said the commission did not seem interested in her scrutinizing the department.

In part, she attributes this to public apathy and the City Charter amendment creating the post, which she said was drafted “inartfully� and has been interpreted by the current Police Commission in a way that contradicts recommendations of the Christopher Commission. It proposed a number of police reforms after the beating of Rodney G. King.

As envisioned by that commission, the inspector general was to be the public’s representative within the LAPD, ensuring that the agency’s disciplinary system worked fairly and that problem officers were appropriately punished.

“When I first came to the job, the commissioners and the public were more receptive to receiving critical information about the department,� Mader said. “Today we have a popular police chief, low crime rates and no major Rodney King-type of incident. People feel secure and are less likely to be interested in learning that there are still problems in the disciplinary system.�

Public and Private Clashes

Although some believe, like Mader, that changes need to be made to strengthen the inspector general, some officials within the LAPD and the commission contend that Mader was simply the wrong person for the job and that personality conflicts minimized her effectiveness. They have criticized her as having a confrontational style and being careless in her work. Even some police reformers, while acknowledging her accomplishments, said they felt she focused too heavily on internal departmental squabbles and not as much on problems with the LAPD’s dealings with the public.

Mader’s decision to resign came as at least some police commissioners were building a case to fire her, sources said. In the past year, Mader and the Police Commission have publicly and privately clashed over her responsibilities.

“This is not an issue about personalities, it’s an issue about power,� Mader said. “The public has a great stake right now in this battle of power, and this battle is very far from over.�

The commission selected attorney Deirdre Hill, a former police commissioner, to succeed Mader on an interim basis.

Mader said she plans to be a leading advocate for strengthening the inspector general position, pushing the City Council and two charter reform committees to enhance the watchdog’s role and authority. At least one charter commission is planning to recommend that the charter be changed to enhance the position.

Mader, a former defense attorney and prosecutor, said she felt that she couldn’t push for changes while she still held the job. She said she believes that her views will carry more weight because she no longer occupies the office and therefore would not personally benefit from the changes she advocates.

“I didn’t want this moment of charter reform to pass me by,� said Mader, who added that she plans to return to her job at the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

According to Mader, the inspector general should report directly to the five civilian commissioners and not to the panel’s executive director, as the charter now provides. Moreover, she said there should be a specific term of service for the inspector general, instead of having the occupant serve at the Police Commission’s pleasure. Additionally, she said the inspector general should have the authority to investigate and audit whatever the occupant wants, instead of needing to get permission from the commission.

The police commissioners, in a letter to one charter commission, indicated that they were opposed to changing the charter.

On Wednesday, Commissioner T. Warren Jackson said that the board favors having a strong inspector general and that the panel has not sought to undermine Mader’s power or authority. He said there is public confusion about how the inspector general functions. “The commission needs to clarify for the general public what the role of the inspector general is and what it does,� he said. “In terms of the four corners of the charter basically it talks about the person auditing and monitoring the discipline process and then doing other projects as directed by the board. That can be both narrowly or broadly defined.�

He said he hopes a “public dialogue� will give “clarity� to the inspector general’s role and responsibilities. “This transition is an opportunity to do that, and we’d better,� he said.

A Call for ‘True Inspector General’

Mader said commissioners may be accurately interpreting her role as it is defined by the letter of the charter. But, she said, the previous Police Commission, under the direction of Raymond Fisher--now a top official in the U.S. Justice Department--was more willing to let her operate as a “true inspector general.�

She said that when the commission was trying to make a case to oust former Chief Willie L. Williams, “there was more of an appetite� for in-depth critical reports. When Chief Bernard C. Parks took over, she said, that interest waned.

Without the support of her Police Commission bosses, Mader said, her work has been dismissed. For example, a report she wrote on excessive force at the LAPD has been kept under wraps for months.

“Any critical observations [of the LAPD] can be prevented from seeing the light of day,� she said.

Before her troubles with the commission, Mader was successful in pushing reforms at the LAPD. She played a key role in changing the way the LAPD handles officers who beat their spouses, tracks citizen complaints and monitors lawsuits against the department.