CIVILIAN AT LAPD DIVISION RANKLES THE RANK AND FILE.

Byline: Michael Gougis Staff Writer

John Miller carries a gun and a badge and rides in a patrol car equipped with lights and siren. He's in charge of the LAPD's counterterrorism efforts. When there's a bomb threat or a chemical scare, he's on the scene.

But he's not from Los Angeles.

And he's not a cop.

Six months after Chief William Bratton appointed Miller to the $157,289- a-year post, his civilian status still rankles some uniformed members of the Los Angeles Police Department, who quietly accuse him of simply playing at cops and robbers.

``To me, Miller's appointment was nothing more than a ... favor by Bratton,'' said one longtime officer who has seen Miller in action. Like all LAPD members interviewed for this story, he spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

``It's clear to me that he knows nothing of our city. He knows nothing of our department's culture.''

One high-ranking LAPD administrator said: ``He's a very nice person, and there are a lot of people who are trying to be open-minded. But there's still tradition, there's still dues to be paid, and he's trying to be a police officer. It can be a little hard to take.''

Miller acknowledged that his appointment may have ruffled feathers in a department that has, as one expert put it, ``a history of contempt for civilian oversight.''

``I realize that a civilian in this role has made some people uncomfortable. But I've got a good track record, and the more people get to know me, the more comfortable they will be with me,'' Miller said in an interview last week. ``Regardless, I have the full confidence of the chief.''

In January, Bratton named Miller as chief of the LAPD's Counter-Terrorism Bureau, and the longtime New Yorker moved his family to Los Angeles.

Miller oversees about 195 personnel assigned to the Anti-Terrorist and Emergency Services divisions, the bomb squad and the hazardous-materials unit. His job is to incorporate the functions of those units to prepare for and respond to potential terrorist activities.

It was not the first time Bratton has brought Miller into a police force as a manager.

The longtime television journalist was covering criminal-justice issues in New York City in 1993 when Bratton hired him as a deputy police commissioner. In addition to serving as chief spokesman for the NYPD, Miller advised Bratton on a wide range of operational issues, including terrorism.

As a journalist with ABC-TV's ``20-20,'' Miller traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, talked with officials there on terrorism, met with Osama bin Laden, and reported on al-Qaida long before the Sept. 11 attacks.

And Miller has lectured at the FBI academy on issues involving the media and about terrorism to police chiefs and bureau officials. He also has undergone training by the Department of Justice and the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators on bomb investigations, hazardous materials and terrorist activities, the LAPD stated.

He also spoke earlier this month to participants in a four-day conference of homeland security experts, held at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles.

``One of the reasons the chief picked me for this post is because of the things we have studied and talked about concerning terrorism in the past,'' Miller said.

As part of his LAPD post, Miller was issued a concealed-weapons permit to carry a pair of handguns.

While some critics called it favoritism in a city in which only a handful of civilians are allowed such permits, Miller pointed out that he's been trained to carry a gun by the NYPD, that he's held a permit to carry one since the 1980s and that he's passed all the tests necessary to legally carry one in California. He also continues to shoot and train on his own time.

Legal experts said granting Miller a weapons permit creates virtually no additional liability for the city. They also said giving a civilian access to a patrol car - something that ``is unheard of'' in the LAPD - also did not present any troubling legal exposure.

During the day, if Miller needs to head for the scene of a bomb scare or chemical release, his office adjutant, certified in emergency driving, handles the chores. After hours, Miller does his own driving, but cannot drive with lights and sirens going.

And Miller shows up at a lot of crime scenes - even homicides that have nothing to do with terrorism. He said they are learning opportunities for him, as well as the manifestation of Bratton's philosophy of sending high-level police officials into the field.

``He wants to send a message that headquarters is not just someplace in downtown, but that it's out in the street with the officers. And I can only tell you what those officers have told me - that it's the first time they've seen someone at this level on the scene of a so-called 'routine' shooting at 1 a.m., on a weekend.''

Still, it is clear that some LAPD officers are having a difficult time accepting the change that Miller represents.

Some say his questions at meetings on the department's newly instituted CompStat crime-tracking system demonstrate a lack of knowledge of police procedure - for example, questioning whether rape victims could be asked to take polygraph tests, something prohibited by state law.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents the department's rank-and-file officers, has given Miller a lukewarm endorsement.

``The Police Protective League believes Chief Bratton has full faith and confidence in John Miller's ability to lead the Counter-Terrorism Bureau,'' PPL President Bob Baker said in a statement. ``We understand he is very intelligent and enthusiastic about serving this role.''

Experts outside the department but familiar with the LAPD suggested that the roots of dissent have less to do with Miller as an administrator than the change he represents.

``I can understand the resentment toward Miller, even if I don't know that it's justified,'' said Joe Domanick, a senior fellow with the USC Annenberg School for Communication's Institute for Justice and Journalism and the author of ``To Protect and To Serve: The LAPD's Century of War in the City of Dreams.''

``He's not a cop. These positions are never given to civilians. Any civilian (in this post) would have a hard time,'' he said.

Even the recent appointment of the police chief from Irvine to oversee Internal Affairs drew some grumbling, since the selection marked the first high-ranking LAPD post other than chief to go to an outsider - albeit an outside with a career in law enforcement.

``Out of all the people in the Los Angeles Police Department, there was no one who could run Internal Affairs, no one who could head up counter-terrorism?'' said one LAPD administrator.

Miller said it is not just Los Angeles that has put nonpolice officers in charge of its anti-terrorism units.

``The focus on terrorism today is much more international,'' he said. ``The idea that you can just reach down into the ranks for someone, say, from narcotics and say 'You're in charge' just doesn't hold up.''

Michael Gougis, [phone]

michael.gougis(at)dailynews.com

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The appointment of civilian John Miller to lead the LAPD's Counter- Terrorism Bureau, has upset some officers.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer