EDITORIAL : GUARDING THE FOXES; MADER'S RESIGNATION MEANS SHE'S FREE TO WATCHDOG THE CITY COUNCIL.EVEN though they don't have all their oars in the water, the City Council seems ready to cross the Rubicon over the departure of LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Inspector General Katherine Mader. The council was preparing a rescue mission to save Mader before the ink was dry on her resignation. It's tough to envision the crew of the Titanic jumping in their dingy dingy used as a description of fleece wool; the wool is lacking in brightness. to save the world, but nothing stops the council. Not reason; not facts; and certainly not the will of the people. If it's true that the Police Commission yanked the rug of independence from under Mader, then someone should indeed be held accountable. That someone is Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. , who appoints the commissioners, and not the City Council, which sullies everything it touches. We continue to believe the dispute between Mader and her citizen bosses on the Police Commission involved differences over style more than substance, her personal values vs. the Police Commission's. Mader alienated many, including several of her bosses on the Police Commission, but her courage and convictions were never in doubt. As the LAPD's first inspector general, she had a tough job to be sure and did it well. Her accomplishments include creation of the LAPD's Domestic Violence Unit and improving the officer-complaint tracking process and its monitoring of lawsuits against the department. Her resignation reportedly grew out of frustration with battling the Police Commission and top Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . brass over
her role as watchdog over the department and her independence.
In the wake of her decision, the public correctly wants assurances that the role of inspector general is not being watered down by a wishy-washy commission willing to roll over for a strong chief of police, Bernard Parks. But there's no proof Parks is rolling back the department to the days of Daryl Gates Daryl F. Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 until 1992. Early life Daryl Francis Gates was born to a Mormon mother and a Catholic father in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles on August 30, 1926; the family soon relocated to , when police trampled on a lot of people's civil rights. The fact is LAPD is doing a good job and is in fact cleaning up its act, so what's the point of the council moving to hold public hearings on the inspector general question? The system is working the way it is supposed to. If the commission changes the system, the council would have an appropriate reason to hold hearings and review the matter. But by going off half-cocked now with hearings, the council is meddling med·dle intr.v. med·dled, med·dling, med·dles 1. To intrude into other people's affairs or business; interfere. See Synonyms at interfere. 2. To handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper. in commission and LAPD business without showing there's even a problem. Given the council's track record, it appears to be engaging in yet another power grab of making every commission, every department head and every employee kowtow to the almighty supreme council's ideology. What's broken in L.A. isn't the Police Department, it's the council. So our suggestion is that if the council wants to employ Mader in a vital and critical role to the public's benefit, it should hire her as inspector general of their own misconduct - civil and criminal - and give her independence and authority to report directly to the people of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Mader could track every penny spent by the council. She could follow the cocaine trail of its members. She could review legislative policies and serve as independent watchdog in much the same way Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill does with the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: If the council wants to hire Mader to pilot its own sinking ship sinking ship A mutual fund that has a substantial outflow of funds because of its weak investment performance. , then damn the torpedoes Damn the torpedoes is a well-known quotation that has passed into popular culture. The original quotation was by U.S. Navy Admiral David Farragut during the Battle of Mobile Bay, during the American Civil War. , full speed ahead. We nominate Mader for Watchdog on the Council. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Katherine Mader |
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