LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A short list of three candidates to be Los Angeles' next top cop could be released as early as tomorrow, city officials said.
The Police Commission -- the five-member civilian panel that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department -- are to meet behind closed doors tomorrow afternoon to choose the finalists from among 13 applicants interviewed last week, according to Police Commission President John Mack.
If all goes as planned, the commission will then send a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa listing the three candidates in preferential order. The names will then be made public, but not in a particular order, according to the mayor's office.
Police Chief William Bratton -- whose last day on the job is Saturday -- has recommended that a member of his command staff be chosen as his replacement. Potential finalists are Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, Deputy Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, Assistant Chief Sharon Papa, and Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger.
Late tomorrow afternoon, the mayor will hold a new conference to formally accept the Police Commission's recommendations.
Villaraigosa plans to interview each of the three candidates at his official residence, Getty House. He will meet one candidate on Wednesday, another on Thursday, and the third on Friday.
The mayor's deputy chief of staff, Matt Szabo, said Villaraigosa's schedule for those three days was cleared "so if he wants to spend the whole day with the candidate he's free to do so."
"I see this as the most important personnel decision that I could make and I will make it in a painstaking way," Villaraigosa told reporters this morning.
In a letter to the Police Commission dated Oct. 7, Villaraigosa said he wants a police chief who would be "an individual of the highest integrity who can engage meaningfully and directly with the Police Commission and the city's elected leadership."
He also said the police chief should "have the desire and enthusiasm to meet directly with leaders of diverse communities"; emphasize civil rights and avoid excessive force; "envision innovation in all aspects of the department's operations"; address the gang problem not just with suppression but also intervention; and increase traffic safety.
Before conducting the first interview, Villaraigosa plans to consult with an "advisory group" composed of retired federal judge Lourdes Baird; human rights activist Stewart Kwoh; Ron Olson; civil rights activist Connie Rice; and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who will serve as chairman.
Villaraigosa will meet with the advisory group again after the last interview.
Szabo said the mayor plans to spend the entire weekend trying to choose the next police chief. If he does make a choice, he will announce it during a news conference at Getty House on Monday.
Villaraigosa then plans to spend the rest of the week going out to various neighborhoods and introducing his nominee to them.
The nominee will also meet with each member of the City Council, and also with the City Attorney and the City Controller.
The earliest date that the City Council can confirm the nominee is Nov. 10. To ensure that LAPD will have someone at the helm between that date and Bratton's departure, the Police Commission plans to announce an interim police chief on Wednesday.
Bratton, 62, is leaving on Oct. 31 to move back to New York and join an international security firm, Altegrity, which specializes in bringing "professional, modern criminal justice systems" to post-conflict nations like Afghanistan and Iraq.
His nearly seven-year tenure at the helm of the LAPD was praised for driving crime rates to historic lows. Among other achievements, Bratton increased the department's ranks to 10,000 police officers and helped it achieve compliance with the federal consent decree imposed after the 1998 Rampart scandal.
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