POLICE PANEL: WATCHDOG WAS FACING OUSTER.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Escalating a feud over civilian oversight of the LAPD, the Police Commission said Thursday that Inspector General Katherine Mader was facing possible dismissal for poor performance when she resigned Tuesday.

Speaking for a majority of the commission members, Executive Director Joe Gunn said commissioners were concerned that Mader's work was marked by reckless and biased investigations of the Los Angeles Police Department and poor evaluation of police issues.

``There was a consensus that we were all not satisfied with the quality of her work,'' Gunn said at a news conference outside Parker Center. ``She was proceeding down a path that may have led to her termination.

``It was the interpretation of the facts. On many occasions, she would start out with a conclusion and then attempt to find facts to meet that conclusion.''

Gunn said his comments were in response to Mader's claims that the Police Commission had undermined her authority and that, as a result, it was a fraud to claim she was independent.

``The board of police commissioners is firmly committed to the integrity of the position of inspector general,'' Gunn said. ``It is the most important tool in the board's civilian oversight of the Los Angeles Police Department.''

Mader said Thursday she has deep concerns about the independence of the office and will campaign to have the City Council and Charter Reform Commissions strengthen the office's power and independence.

``I don't think the current structure provides enough safeguards for the independence of the office,'' she said. ``The office has structural flaws that the public should be aware of.''

In particular, Mader said she supports a proposal by the city's appointed Charter Reform Commission to have the inspector general report directly to the Police Commission, not to the panel's executive director.

In addition, she supports giving the inspector general a term of office rather than having that person serve at the will of the Police Commission.

Mader was distressed by Gunn's personal attack on her performance, saying she stands by the statement of accomplishments she issued earlier in the week.

``I'm sorry that personality has been injected into this very important public policy issue,'' she said.

One commissioner privately expressed disapproval of the decision to criticize Mader's performance. Although that commissioner did not speak publicly, the dissent forced the news conference to be moved outdoors instead of being held in the commission office as planned.

City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer, who plan to hold a hearing Dec. 7 on the inspector general's role, were upset by the developments.

``I'm really disappointed that some have stooped to name-calling and making this personal when the real issue is the role of the inspector general,'' Chick said, saying the personal attacks trivialize the important issue of whether residents have good oversight of the LAPD.

Added Feuer, ``I don't think it's appropriate to talk about personnel issues in a public way.''

Gunn, a former LAPD commander, said one of the conditions Mader sought when she turned in her resignation was that neither side would criticize the other. But Gunn said she broke that agreement Wednesday when she went on Warren Olney's radio program, ``Which Way L.A.,'' on KCRW-FM (89.9) and charged that the commission had undermined her authority and prevented her from undertaking certain inquiries.

``No commissioner has any memory of anything like that occurring, of intervening with her investigations,'' Gunn said.

Gunn said the commission has expanded Mader's powers in the last year by giving her authority to scrutinize officer-involved shootings and incidents in which officers use nondeadly force to subdue suspects.

Gunn said Police Commission President Edith Perez recently threatened Police Chief Bernard C. Parks with a lawsuit unless he lifted a ban for Mader to attend a police disciplinary board session on police union member Dennis Zine. That, he said, shows the commission stood up for her to the chief.

Mader wanted free rein to initiate ``uncontrolled'' investigations without commission approval and once opened an unauthorized probe, which Gunn said turned out to be a ``reckless abuse of an innocent person's reputation.''

Mayor Richard Riordan stood behind the commission, while declining to comment specifically.

Mader got support Thursday from Dave Hepburn, president of the Police Protective League, which has a running feud with Parks.

Gunn said Mader is expected to leave office Jan. 1.