SLAIN OFFICER WON'T GET FULL-HONORS FUNERAL.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams angered colleagues of slain Officer Kevin Gaines on Friday by deciding the department will not provide a full-honors funeral because Gaines was off-duty when he was shot by a fellow officer.

``That is absolutely absurd,'' said Robert Ball, an attorney for the Oscar Joel Bryant Association, a group of African-American police officers that included Gaines. ``Why in the world would they not provide him with a full-honors funeral.''

Gaines, an African-American and six-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran, died Tuesday after being shot by undercover LAPD Detective Frank Lyga in Studio City. Both were in plain clothes and neither knew that the other was an officer, police said.

Association President Leonard Ross said it was ``disturbing'' the chief and Police Commission members have said they do not plan to attend the funeral Tuesday because they have a meeting scheduled at the time.

The LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division still is investigating the shooting, but Williams said Friday that he considers Gaines was off duty at the time so the department will not provide him with a full-honors funeral.

Lyga claimed he acted in self-defense when Gaines threatened him verbally and brandished a gun during an altercation in traffic on Cahuenga Boulevard.

A full-honors police funeral usually entails the attendance by the chief and police commissioners, honor guards, a gun salute, bagpipes, helicopter flyover and an escort by a formation of motorcycle officers.

Such funerals, which are paid for by the city and the Police Memorial Foundation, normally are reserved for officers killed in the line of duty, said LAPD Lt. Tony Alba.

``His (chief's) feeling was to maintain the distinction between on-duty and off-duty deaths,'' Alba said. ``The funeral is not going to have the stuff we provide in an on-duty death.''

In addition, Alba said Williams does not plan on attending the funeral Tuesday, at Crenshaw Christian Center, because it conflicts with the regular Police Commission meeting.

No police commissioner plans to attend, either, according to a spokesman. Normally, the chief and at least one commissioner attends the funeral of an officer killed in the line of duty.

Alba cited as precedent the recent funeral of Officer John Elkins, who was shot to death by his son while off duty last month and was not given a full-honors funeral.

However, Assistant Chief Frank Piersol, who made the recommendation against an honors funeral to the chief, said it was a more complicated issue than off-duty vs. on-duty, because there is an investigation under way to determine whether Gaines engaged in assault with a deadly weapon when he pulled a gun.

``The issue of the manner of how the officer passed away was a consideration,'' Piersol said of the decision not to provide a full-honors funeral. ``The premise as we understand it is the officer may have died in the commission of a crime.''

As part of the investigation, detectives have searched the Hollywood Hills home where Gaines lived with Sharitha Knight, the estranged wife of Death Row Records head Marion ``Suge'' Knight, a source said Friday.

Gaines' widow has retained lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr. to represent the family in dealing with the LAPD, said Tony Blalock, Gaines' brother-in-law.

Ball said that without the investigation complete, it is unfair to decide that Gaines was not killed in the line of duty.

An officer who is technically off duty but who witnesses a crime being committed, such as someone brandishing a gun, has an obligation to take action as a police officer, Ball said.

Because officials do not believe that Gaines and Lyga knew the other was a police officer, Ball said Gaines may have pulled his gun after seeing Lyga's gun or believing a crime was being committed.

``How can they say he was not acting in the course and scope of his duty if he has an obligation as a police officer to act if he sees someone brandishing a gun,'' Ball said. ``It would be ridiculous not to give the officer the benefit of the doubt.''

Ross said he still is trying to work with the department so the funeral will be respectful and is glad that some lower-level command officers plan to attend.

Police union director Leonard Munoz said he thinks the chief made the right decision.

Referring to the shooting, Munoz said: ``It is unfortunate. It's tragic. But it was clearly off duty.''

Beyond the lack of a full-honors funeral, the determination that Gaines was not killed in the line of duty also has financial implications for his survivors, including his estranged wife and his two children.

The Police Memorial Foundation provides up to $32,000 in college costs for the dependent children of officers killed in the line of duty, while additional funds of about $150,000 are provided by the federal government to survivors.

Foundation spokeswoman Ramona Beatty said the benefits still might be provided if the investigation later determines that Gaines was killed in the line of duty.

One colleague of Gaines said attorneys may make an effort to have the death declared one that occurred in the line of duty, because of the financial benefits.

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Photo

Photo: Kevin Gaines

Shot by undercover detective