POLICE BOARD BACKS GARCETTI : RANK-AND-FILE UNION MEMBERS SAID TO FAVOR LYNCH IN DA RACE.

Byline: Jaxon Van Derbeken and Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writers

The Los Angeles Police Protective League's governing board has voted to endorse District Attorney Gil Garcetti in the Nov. 5 election even though the union's delegates apparently favor his opponent.

Garcetti, who is facing a challenge from Deputy District Attorney John Lynch, said Monday that he had been informed that the union's Board of Directors voted last week to support his bid for re-election.

League officials set a news conference for today to announce the endorsement.

``Obviously I'm very pleased,'' Garcetti said Monday. ``Anyone who wants to be DA, who wants to be an effective DA, needs the support of law enforcement.''

Lynch, who has watched Garcetti walk away with endorsements from Sheriff Sherman Block and the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said he was not surprised by the latest development.

``I think it's a tribute to his ability to use the powers of incumbency,'' Lynch said, ``and he has used them very well. He's been campaigning for four years.''

The union board's vote countered a straw poll of the union's 100 delegates taken Oct. 3, said a delegate present during the polling. The result: Half favored Lynch, 30 percent favored taking no position, and 20 percent voted to endorse Garcetti.

``We have no voting power, all we are doing is making recommendations to the board, like we do on any candidate,'' said the delegate. ``The delegates and the rank and file have a perception of him losing the major cases and the bigger perception is that he is out to get cops.''

The delegate said that the justification used by the board to support the endorsement will be key.

Garcetti said he asked to speak to the board after learning that union delegates initially were inclined to either support Lynch or offer no endorsement.

``We had a straightforward and very heated discussion and I think we cleared up a lot of misinformation,'' Garcetti said.

The district attorney said they talked about his prosecution of police officers, concerns that prosecutors were not taking tough cases, and other issues.

``I think I impressed them that violent crime has always been my No. 1 priority,'' Garcetti said. ``But we have to do more than put people in prison.''

Lynch said Monday he was doubtful that most rank-and-file officers support Garcetti, in large part because he instituted a rollout program in which prosecutors from the department's Special Investigations Division - the unit that files criminal charges against police officers - went out to crime scenes to monitor police investigations.

Officers saw that as anti-police grandstanding at a time when police officers were under attack, Lynch said.

``I don't think they see Gil as someone who is supportive of the rank-and-file police officer,'' Lynch said.

The union represents most of the department's 9,100 officers.