POLICE UNION STATES CRITERIA FOR NEW CHIEF POLICE PROTECTIVE LEAGUE SAYS MORALE ISSUES CRITICAL.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

The union representing rank-and-file police officers has forwarded a list of criteria that it wants the mayor and the Police Commission to use when they decide on the new chief, officials said Monday.

In a letter to Mayor James Hahn and the Police Commission, the Police Protective League suggested that commission members keep officer morale, community policing, and recruitment and retention at the top of the must-have list for the next chief's priorities.

``We just wanted to give them some input as to what the rank and file want,'' said PPL President Mitzi Grasso, ``to reinforce what we already believe.''

The League also suggested that the candidate chosen for the top police position should have a track record as an effective leader, promise to increase patrol ranks and be a good listener who knows how to concede when wrong.

The letter listed officer morale as ``critically important'' for the new chief. ``It is very important,'' Grasso said. ``If you look at (Bernard C.) Parks' administration, morale was so low and I believe it's part of the reason our officers were not as productive.''

The police union has not made an endorsement of a candidate but might when the three finalists are named.

More than 50 people applied for the job left vacant in May, when Parks quit after the Police Commission denied him a second five-year term. An executive search firm hired by the city narrowed the candidates list to 21, based on minimum requirements.

Among the 14 applicants who have publicly identified themselves is former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates.

``I've watched the Police Department since I left go into a free fall,'' said Gates, who had been forced out 10 years ago after the Rodney King beating and rioting in city streets when the officers involved were acquitted.

``It has gotten worse, it has all kinds of problems and it needs some leadership,'' he said Monday. ``I've always provided leadership ... . It was the best department in the world when I was there.''

Candidates for the job include LAPD Deputy Chiefs Ron Bergmann, David Gascon, David Kalish and Margaret York; and Cmdrs. George Gascon (no relation to David Gascon), Betty Kelepecz, Jim McDonnell and Sharon Papa.

Other people who have said publicly that they applied for the job are former LAPD Deputy Chiefs Rick Dinse, Mark Kroeker and Art Lopez, who are now chiefs in Salt Lake City; Portland, Ore.; and Oxnard, respectively; William Bratton, former New York City police commissioner and Boston police chief; and Santa Ana Chief Paul Walters.