EDITORIAL HAHN'S MEDDLING.

IN his haste to defuse the controversy over the death of Devin Brown, Mayor James Hahn has created a mess of confusion.

Faced with questions about how a new policy on shooting at moving vehicles would work and what kind of training officers would need, the Police Commission prudently put off a decision for two weeks so the details could be ironed out.

Hahn, ever aware of the looming March 8 mayoral primary, immediately ordered the commission to adopt the new policy within 24 hours. He got his way, of course, since he has turned the city's system of independent citizen commissioners into an adjunct of the Mayor's Office.

But the result is that Los Angeles Police Department officers are so upset and confused that their union had to send out an e-mail assuring them that nothing has fundamentally changed, despite the new policy's requirement that officers get out of the way of vehicles coming at them rather than firing their weapons.

The Police Protective League said that ``although imperfect, (the policy) DOES NOT take away an officer's own right of self-defense. As has always been the case, an officer must justify the use of deadly force as a 'last resort' tactic.''

Then there's the confusion about training. The union says it's been promised there will be ``field training, roll call training and ... training videos to better prepare officers to anticipate the dangers from moving vehicles.''

Assistant Chief Sharon Papa says there's no money in the budget to provide that, nor the simulators for officers to use in the training.

Not to worry, the mayor retorts. Chief William Bratton, he says, assured him that what little money is needed will come from the Police Foundation - something the nonprofit organization has yet to even consider.

This highlights one of the big problems with the Hahn administration. Instead of providing leadership, the mayor politicizes every situation. As mayor, Hahn has made public safety his No. 1 issue. Yet he has not raised the LAPD the money to hire more cops, to buy badly needed equipment or even for the training to prevent incidents like the Devin Brown shooting.

It will soon be up to voters to choose between more political gamesmanship or stronger leadership that actually solves problems. That's why the Daily News endorsed Bob Hertzberg for mayor last Sunday. He has the vision, the energy and the courage to confront the city's problems and work for real solutions.