DRIVER'S LICENSE BILL BACKED ALLOWING IMMIGRANTS TO GET PERMITS WOULD BOOST SAFETY, CHIEF SAYS.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

Flanked by local and state politicians, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton urged Gov. Gray Davis to support legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to get a California driver's license.

``It is good public policy. It is good public safety,'' Bratton said at a news conference Thursday in front of Parker Center with Mayor James Hahn, a handful of City Council members and other elected leaders.

``The number of hit-and-run accidents and pursuits - a growing problem in Los Angeles - we believe will decrease significantly,'' Bratton said. ``If more drivers are licensed they'll be less likely to flee accident scenes.''

In addition, it would increase information available to police about residents, he said.

An estimated 10 percent of the state's drivers aren't licensed. The legislation, Senate Bill 60, allows drivers to get a license with a Social Security number, federal taxpayer identification number or other identification deemed acceptable by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Most of elected leaders at the Thursday conference had already pledged their support for the bill but were rallying around Bratton's announcement, which they called significant from one of the nation's top cops.

Though Davis has already said he will sign the bill once it reaches his desk, he has flip-flopped before.

``He has intended to sign it. He was going to sign it right before 9-11, and then we thought we had an agreement last year, and we didn't quite get there. So now's the time to do it,'' said state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, a sponsor of the bill.

Critics have argued that the bill would make it easier for terrorists to function in California and have cited the identification cards from other states that aided the terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

``It was the document got them on airplanes that morning,'' said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the by Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes illegal immigration.

``We don't know who these people are really, and the state of California is giving them driver's licenses?'' Mehlman said.

Bratton said he conferred with his top command staff, including counterterrorism chief John Miller, and determined that the legislation would not make it easier for terrorists to operate.

``That would not be the case,'' Bratton said. ``The city is better off having more residents with valid driver's licenses. We'd rather know who people are.''

None of those at Thursday's news conference commented on the significance of Davis' change of heart on the bill in the face of a recall.

But Mehlman said Davis' reversal from last year isn't a coincidence.

``He wasn't facing a recall then,'' Mehlman said. ``It's blatantly political. He seems to think it will appeal to the larger Hispanic voting population.''

Mariel Garza, [phone]

mariel.garza(at)dailynews.com