BRATTON PICKS THREE FOR HIS INNER CIRCLE.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

Police Chief William Bratton named three commanders as his inner command circle Friday as several other veteran LAPD leaders have decided to leave.

Bratton announced promotions, effective Tuesday, for three commanders who competed against him for the top spot in the Los Angeles Police Department:

--Cmdr. Jim McDonnell, a 21-year veteran of the LAPD and currently the department's special assistant, overseeing community policing, will be promoted to assistant chief.

--Cmdr. Sharon Papa, department ombudsman and former chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police force until it merged with LAPD in 1997, will be promoted to deputy chief.

--Cmdr. George Gascon, commander of the department's training group, will be promoted to deputy chief.

``They have everything I'm looking for in leadership in the department - the skills, the background,`` Bratton said in an interview Friday, ticking off what he saw as their some of their pluses: that they are risk-takers, well-respected and complement each other well.

``Their vision for what the LAPD can be is the same vision I have,'' Bratton continued, ``that it has many problems, but at its core it is basically a very good organization, staffed by very good people. And with the right kinds of leadership ... we can really begin to rebuild the trust lost.''

Mayor James Hahn will join Bratton to make the official announcement on Tuesday and has already endorsed the picks.

``Chief Bratton committed to bringing the very best people into the leadership of the LAPD, and he is clearly keeping that promise with the promotion of Commanders Jim McDonnell, Sharon Papa and George Gascon,'' Hahn said Friday. ``These three talented individuals are devoted to this Department, and under Chief Bratton's leadership will help restore the luster of the LAPD, while improving the safety in every neighborhood of Los Angeles.''

Bratton, who became LAPD chief last month, was selected by Hahn after the mayor and the Police Commission announced that they did not favor giving a second five-year term to Chief Bernard C. Parks.

The three picks were not a huge surprise to LAPD and City Hall insiders, who had speculated they would rise to the top circle after only those three commanders appeared on the stage along with city and state dignitaries at Bratton's swearing-in ceremony less than two weeks ago.

``I knew that a while back,'' said City Councilman Dennis Zine, an LAPD reserve officer who formerly worked as an LAPD motorcycle officer. ``They're welcome changes. The people promoted are well-qualified, are people who will improve morale and who are worthy of those promotions.''

``We are so pleased,'' said Mitzi Grasso, president of the Police Protective League, the union representing the rank-and-file officers of the LAPD. The PPL has been advocating a clean sweep of the department for new leadership. ``I think they're representative of the creative, forward thinking in law enforcement.''

McDonnell said Friday that his exact assignment will be announced in the near future, and meanwhile he will continue working on the transition and reorganization of the department, which Bratton tapped him to do two weeks ago.

In selecting the three commanders, Bratton bypassed all the deputy chiefs to pick a trio of popular and well-respected up-and-comers.

``It says we got a chief coming into organization willing to do things differently than have been done in the past,'' McDonnell said.

Two of them Bratton already knew before joining the LAPD. McDonnell and Bratton are old friends from their days as cops for the Boston Police Department in 1978.

Papa and Bratton met as fellow transit police chiefs. Bratton has been chief of the transit authorities in both Boston and New York, before moving on to serve as police commissioner for both those cities.

However, Bratton didn't know Gascon until he started working on the independent team monitoring the federal consent decree. But the two share many of the same ideas about revamping the department.

``A lot of (our ideas) are very similar - decentralizing the organization, making it run more like a business and making people accountable,'' Gascon said Friday.

Gascon added that he had heard the rumors about his promotion, but was still happily surprised when Bratton chose him and is looking forward to the new assignment.

``I'm excited,'' said City Council President Alex Padilla of the new command team. ``I think he's identified some highly intelligent people who have the right attitude.''

With the new promotions come some departures of the old guard. McDonnell will fill the assistant chief position left open by Assistant Chief David Gascon (no relation to George), who retired last week after 31 years with the LAPD. Papa and Gascon fill two open deputy chief positions.

Another one of the three assistant chiefs, Julius Davis, and Deputy Chief Willie Pannell have both said they will retire shortly. During a radio interview this week, Bratton said Pannell and Davis had planned to retire before Bratton was selected as chief.

And city sources indicate that Deputy Chief Margaret York has been asked to step aside or be demoted.

Bratton would not comment on anything he may have said to staff within the department, other than saying in talks with his command staff, ``some were presented with various options. So, there'll be more changes to the senior leadership team.''

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