LGBT POV

The Los Angeles Times reported this morning that LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa picked Deputy Police Chief Charlie Beck to replace Bill Bratton, who stepped down as LAPD Chief on Saturday.

Villaraigosa will make the formal announcement around 11:00am from Getty House – which will probably be broadcast live.

Openly gay LA Police Commissioner Rob Saltzman seemed to confirm The Times story as well as indicate that Beck is a good pick for the LGBT community. In an email to LGBT POV, Saltzman said:

“All three candidates we forwarded to the Mayor had excellent qualifications and each would have made a very good choice for Chief of Police.  I look forward to working closely with Chief Beck on a variety of issues including further reform of the department, continuing the diversification of the LAPD, and ensuring policing that protects our Constitutional rights.

Chief Beck has an excellent record on issues of particular concern to the LGBT community.  He is sensitive to issues that directly affect LGBT people, and he understands our concerns.  What’s more, Chief Beck is a problem-solver by approach.  I am confident that we will work together closely to resolve any issues that arise.”

Beck was rumored to have been Bratton’s pick over two other candidates, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell and Deputy Chief Michel Moore – a decision three months in the making without direct advisory input from LGBT leaders, apart from Saltzman, which LGBT POV noted with some consternation.

Beck, 56, is a 32-year veteran of the LAPD with “strong support from rank-and-file officers and civil rights advocates alike,” The Times reports. With longtime civil rights leaders Connie Rice and LA Police Commissioner John Mack advising Villaraigosa, one would expect a high bar for understanding social justice issues

But Beck is not familiar in the LGBT community and a google search for his name and “gays” yielded NO results.

Beck, currently the commanding officer of the Detective Bureau who rose through the ranks as part of Bratton’s leadership team, was born in Long Beach and graduated from Cal State Long Beach, according to The Times, so presumably he ran into some gay people along the way. His assignments have included the Rampart, Southeast, Southwest, Pacific, Harbor, and Hollywood areas.  As a sergeant, he worked with South Bureau C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) and the Internal Affairs Division, The Times reports. He’s also served in the Juvenile Division.

Beck’s appointment must still be ratified by the City Council – though no real opposition has surfaced since his candidacy was announced. Villaraigosa is holding three town hall meetings to introduce him to the community (see below).

Beck seems to want input from the various LA communities, telling KPCC radio’s Frank Stoltze after a community meeting in South LA last September:

“Ya know, I’m interested in being the next chief of police, so I want to hear what they have to say so I can structure my plans accordingly….

I heard that many of the people who came to this meeting many are from South Los Angeles, are very desirous of an approachable chief who had an ability to communicate with diverse groups.”

Attorney Dean Hansell, the openly gay Police Commissioner from 1997 to 2001, told LGBT POV:

“I have known [Beck] since being a Commissioner. At the time he was the Lt. assigned to us to head the Commission Investigation Division, which regulates a number of professions.  An experience I had with him at the time was that to be a masseuse in LA on had to be HIV negative.  I worked with him to draft language to eliminate that requirement.

He is a solid cop, low key, and trusted at many levels in the Department.”

Since there is considerably more understanding today about how HIV is transmitted – the discover of the HIV drug cocktail that staunched the dying was first discussed in 1995-1996 – I asked Hansel for clarification. He said:

“The masseuse issue was probably about 1998 (I joined the PC in 1997).  To require a masseuse to be HIV negative was not a property proper requirement.  Fortunately, Charlie Beck agreed with me and assisted in eliminating the requirement.”

That Beck responded intelligently during the crisis of fear that still engulfed much of America, let alone law enforcement, at that time speaks well for the future chief.

Popular openly gay Sgt. Stacey Simmons said via email:

“Beck was an excellent choice.  He’s respected for both his leadership style and ability to relate to his troops. I’m confident that he understands our issues and that we will continue to move forward in partnership with the community.”

Meet Beck for yourself at these town halls:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

at the EXPO Center 3980 South Menlo Ave.,

Los Angeles CA 90037

at 4:00 PM Doors Open at 3:00 PM

Wed. November 4, 2009

6:00 – 7 :30 PM

Van Nuys City Hall

14410 Sylvan Street

Van Nuys, CA

Thursday November 5, 2009

6:00 – 7:30 PMl

Sereno Senior Center at

4818 Klamath Place

Los Angeles, CA