EDITORIAL BRATTON'S CHALLENGE CAN NEW CHIEF CUT CRIME AND RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN THE LAPD?

WHEN Mayor James Hahn set out to find a new chief for the Los Angeles Police Department, he stressed that his top priority would be hiring someone willing to take orders. The new chief would have to play by the rules as Hahn defined them, willing to bow to the wishes of the mayor and his hand-picked Police Commission.

Yet in choosing former New York Police Commissioner William Bratton, Hahn has wisely - and boldly - tossed those criteria out the window.

If his past performance is any indicator, Bratton will be nobody's lackey. In Boston and New York, the hardened crime fighter took on the task of rehabilitating languishing police departments and curbing skyrocketing crime rates. He was never afraid to step on toes to get his way or to get the job done - or shy about upstaging politicians in the media.

Bratton's strategy relies on community policing to target small crimes before they beget bigger ones, using technology to maximize police efficiency.

It's a proven success. In New York, serious crime dropped by a third and homicides by a half during his tenure.

Ultimately, Bratton was forced out of his New York post by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who couldn't stomach all the credit Bratton was getting for accomplishments that Giuliani attributed to himself.

And that's what makes the Bratton choice all the more surprising: the new chief's propensity for showboating.

In New York, Bratton consistently stole the limelight from Giuliani, who commands far more attention than Hahn. Bratton won't be content to stand in Hahn's small shadow. He will jump out and claim the spotlight for himself, as he always has before.

In a city of celebrities and showboaters, he should fit right in. But it's doubtful that Bratton's appetite for publicity and his independence of mind will sit well with a mayor who has a fragile ego and a yearning to be in control.

Hahn surely knows this, and it's to his credit that he put personal preferences aside for the betterment of the city, choosing a proven crime fighter over other worthy but less well-known candidates.

Clearly, the LAPD is among the top concerns in the Valley, which gets half the officers per capita as the rest of the city.

And Bratton faces the toughest challenge of his career in restoring public confidence in the LAPD. Tarnished by scandals, its officers demoralized, the once-proud LAPD is unable to attract or retain officers to the point it has just 90 percent of its authorized strength.

Bratton not only has to win over the rank and file, he's got to get them to stop covering up for each other and to comply with the demands of a federal court consent decree.

How will he crack down on crime without drawing the wrath of the city's professional cop haters?

How will he avoid the further politicization of the department, when it's the politicization of the department that led to Bernard C. Parks' downfall and, thus, Bratton's ascent?

To be successful in L.A., Bratton must remember that it's the people who pay his salary, not the politicians tugging at his chain. He's been hired to reform the LAPD and cut crime, not to take orders from the downtown power structure.

He's cut his deal to respect the concerns of the mayor and we are confident he will disarm the council quickly to win confirmation. But the flattery of the City Hall leadership that has failed for a decade to reform the LAPD won't be the measure of his success. Falling crime and public confidence in the LAPD will.

Bratton has his work cut out for him, but he's shown himself up to such challenges before.