PARKS SEEKS RESTRAINING-ORDER ALERTS.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks said Tuesday that he has ordered his staff to develop a system for alerting department officials when an officer is banned from a police facility.

Parks took the step after coming under criticism for meeting with a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant at Parker Center despite a restraining order banning the man from the department's headquarters, where a former girlfriend works.

In his first public comments on the matter, Parks said he did not know when he met with Sgt. Howard Irvin that a female LAPD detective working in Parker Center had a court order banning Irvin from her workplace.

``The unfortunate thing is we do not have a system at this time that identifies when an officer may have a TRO (temporary restraining order) about coming to a police facility,'' Parks said. ``And so if we don't know that it exists, it's very difficult not to set meetings.''

Parks said he has directed his staff to put a system in place that would alert officials to the existence of restraining orders but he couldn't say exactly how it would work - who would be alerted and what officials would be told about the restrictions in place.

``We're working on it right now,'' he said.

At the same time, Parks defended the purpose of the meeting with Irvin, saying he agreed to meet with the sergeant after learning that Internal Affairs investigators wanted to talk to him about another case.

``That meeting would not have been called here unless we wanted to serve paperwork on him dealing with other administrative charges,'' Parks said. ``Our effort was to get him here for that purpose.''

After the meeting, Parks called investigators planning to serve a bench warrant on Irvin for violating the restraining order and told them not to arrest or charge the sergeant with the violation, according to police reports.

LAPD officials have said the chief sought to delay Irvin's arrest so the department could have time to let the judge who issued the warrant know that Parks had arranged to meet with Irvin without knowing about the restraining order.

``We think a criminal charge is such a significant event that we want to make sure that all the information on both sides of the issue is presented when we file cases,'' Parks said.

Municipal Court Judge Randy Rhodes refused to drop the charges against Irvin of violating the restraining order after hearing that the chief had agreed to the meeting and this week set a tentative trial date of Dec. 10.

Assistant City Attorney Alan Dahle said it is irrelevant whether Parks agreed to meet with Irvin because Irvin knew about the restraining order when he went to Parker Center on Aug. 6.

``He made an appointment to go to Parker Center in violation of a restraining order,'' Dahle said. ``A stalker is unwilling to accept the fact that he no longer has a right to go around the person he has stalked. This defendant continued to do that in violation of a court order.''

Irvin sought the meeting to ask Parks about his future with the LAPD after he was convicted of felony charges of stalking and making threats against an ex-girlfriend, Detective Linda Compton, according to police reports.

Compton filed a complaint with the inspector general about the department's handling of the matter, including a delay in serving a warrant on Irvin. The inspector general is reviewing the matter.

Monrow Mabon, an attorney representing Irvin and who Parks described Tuesday as a friend, said he does not believe the visit to Parks' office is a violation of the restraining order, because Irvin went to the meeting to talk to Parks about his future with the LAPD.

``As a police officer, he has a vested right to his job and is entitled to due process,'' Mabon said. ``To deny him access to that building is to deny him due process.''

However, some Los Angeles officials are concerned about Irvin's visit to Parker Center and are questioning why the LAPD has taken so long to deal effectively with Irvin, who is also the subject of internal LAPD investigations into charges that he physically abused two other women.

``My question is how is it we've allowed an officer to continue to have multiple problems like this,'' said City Councilwoman Laura Chick.

Parks acknowledged that the Irvin case has become one of concern within the department.

``There is a red flag,'' he said.

Irvin is on unpaid leave and is expected to face a Board of Rights hearing sometime early next year, where he could be terminated after he pleaded guilty in July to the two felonies involving stalking and threatening Compton.

Another LAPD detective filed a complaint with the Long Beach Police Department in 1994, accusing Irvin of continuing to harass her after they ended a three-year relationship.

The female detective alleged that in 1992 Irvin pushed his way into her house and assaulted her, slamming her into the floor and fracturing her neck, according to police reports.

The woman detective obtained a restraining order and alleged in a 1995 police report that Irvin violated that order by visiting the LAPD station where she worked, saying he wanted to talk to another officer about the annual Las Vegas-to-Baker, Calif., race, a police report said.

Prosecutors also say Irvin is facing a disciplinary hearing regarding a July 1996 incident in which Irvin allegedly put a gun to the head of another woman with whom he formerly had a relationship in San Diego County.