We Have to Start Talking to Each Other

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A. We started using it the second week after it occurred. We used it to point out how an incident, a traffic violation, led to the events that we saw on television. The man had been stopped. We would have given him a ticket for speeding or reckless driving. We ask, "What are the officers doing that they shouldn't be doing? Are there other alternatives?"

Q. Do you have any plans for L.A.?

A. Well, I want to examine training. The officers have said they need training in many areas. The Christopher Commission ((named for a panel that called for the creation of a new police commission with increased authority to control a discipline-lax organization with racist tendencies)) clearly indicates that there needs to be a real examination of internal affairs and the process of making complaints against police.

We need to examine the relationship between the department and the community. We have to start talking to each other, not talking at each other.

Q. You have to rebuild the bridges.

A. I don't know if there are any bridges left standing. It is going to be a very, very slow process. We also have got to examine the resources available to the department. The city is facing a $150 million deficit. There was an initial budget request that would have reduced the department by 700 people by this time next year. I certainly hope that doesn't occur. If the demands for service and the demands for change go up -- and they are clearly going to go up -- and your resources to deliver those services go down, there is going to be further distrust and disbelief in the community.

Q. Are you nervous?

A. No, not nervous. But I understand that there is going to be a very short break-in period. There will probably be higher expectations than I will be able to deliver in all quarters at all times. But I am still looking forward to the job. In one sense, there will be a greater level of initial support for me.

I just hope the disturbances of this past week subside very quickly. I hope the community realizes what has occurred, and we have learned a lesson from that, and we never have to look back and mention Watts, and then mention Rodney King and the riots after Rodney King, and worry about what will spark the next one.