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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Bernard Parks

Aired January 05, 2002 - 08:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: With political pressures mounting on both sides, one of the most important decisions facing Los Angeles, California is whether LAPD chief Bernard Parks should be given a second five-year term. Parks supporters see him as a tough disciplinarian, a strong leader, and as a man that doesn't back down to political agendas.

And on the other hand, critics say the chief is to blame for bad morale and is arbitrary when it comes to disciplining his officers. However, the facts do remain that Chief Parks has paid a pivotal role in reshaping and revitalizing a department hit hard by the Rodney King fiasco and more recently, the Rampart scandal involving corruption with the LAPD's gang unit.

We're going to cover all these issues this morning. Chief Bernard Parks joins us here in our Atlanta Studio.

Good to see you, sir.

CHIEF BERNARD PARKS, LOS ANGELES POLICE: Good morning. How are you?

PHILLIPS: Nice to see you. Well, I know you're here for the Trumpet Awards. Isn't that right?

PARKS: I am.

PHILLIPS: We didn't get lucky just to have you for the morning.

PARKS: Well, it's the 10th year. And Ms. Clayton invited me. And I thought because it's the end of my vacation, I can come here and enjoy the last couple of days.

PHILLIPS: Well, you better enjoy that vacation, because you have a lot ahead so far.

PARKS: That's true.

PHILLIPS: As you wrap up right now, your time as chief, looking ahead, we'll talk about that in a minute. Let's talk about the Rampart scandal.

PARKS: Yes. PHILLIPS: I mean, this was the headline story in the past two years. What do you think were some of the most important lessons that you learned from that and how you dealt with it?

PARKS: I think the most important lessons is that you have to be very considerate about the controls in any large organization monitoring officers activities. And you cannot allow an organization to create an environment to where this kind of activity can go on for a long period of time.

We'll never have a situation where we'll eliminate personal corruption or personal dishonesty, but an organization must be responsible for the environment that allows it to perpetuate.

PHILLIPS: And a lot of criticism came out talking about bad morale within the department, specifically during this time, and that possibly you did not discipline certain officers enough, some too little. How do you respond to that?

PARKS: Well, I think, number one, there's critics all the time. And I think the fact that you're in the mix, trying to do the best you can, many people make judgments well outside of the information flow. This department, LAPD, found this scandal, put an end to it, disciplined those that were responsible, pushed for prosecution of those officers who are criminally involved. And we have, at the very end of it, the new district attorney's reflected there's not going to be any more filings in review of it.

The other thing, I think that's been unfortunate is it was labeled as the scandal of the century. And it didn't turn out to be such. And so, people are somewhat dismayed by that. Many people -- critics wanted it to be that large. And yet, when we looked at all the information, we found it was a small number of officers that took advantage of the system.

PHILLIPS: And a lot -- you didn't let a lot of things get out of control either. Let's talk about September 11. I'm curious to know how has September 11 affected your role as chief of police, affected Los Angeles, for the better and for the worse?

PARKS: You know, September 11 really was a very big positive. Number one, we're one of the few, major law enforcement agencies that has its own intelligence unit. And so, we did not have a void of information from the beginning, even today, of monitoring people, keeping track of activities in our area.

We have what we call a target rich area. We have a tremendous number of visible symbols that terrorists could take advantage of. We feel very comfortable that we monitor them. We've done a lot of education for our public, to let them know what they can do, to ensure that they can protect themselves.

Probably the biggest balance has been to alert people of the potential dangers, but not panic them, as it relates to how they can take a role in their own city, in their businesses. The other issue is keeping our employees directed towards the city of Los Angeles, as many people look to New York as being the only potential threat, because of the devastation there. So we've had some balances in education. And we've put a great deal of information out to the public. And that's been our role since September 11, while at the same time, dealing with crime and all the other issues that go along in the major city.

PHILLIPS: Do you think the FBI has been supportive of local law enforcement?

PARKS: We find in L.A. that we have a unique situation. We've been over 20 years in a task force dealing with terrorism within the city of L.A., with the FBI and other federal agencies. We have our intelligence function.

So unlike other cities, there is no void of information, lack of cooperation. But we also understand the limitations of intelligence information. You don't get a full picture of everything that's going on. You get bits and pieces of information, that it's up to your analyst to put together and make some sense of.

And if you do not have that operation going on, it's almost impossible to create it when a major incident occurs.

PHILLIPS: You know, you and I were talking about Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And you said something that sort of struck me. And that was trying to live out your role, not being governed by politics, more so following your heart. It's exactly what Rudy Giuliani told when I asked him, "What do you think helped you get through all these challenges in these tough times?" And he said because he governed with his heart. And he's passing that on, of course, to Michael Bloomberg.

Do you feel sort of a connection with that philosophy? You've been very much that way also.

PARKS: No, I think you have to be that way. You cannot wake up every morning and remake yourself by the latest polls. You cannot look at things differently every hour of the day. You have to be very consistent. Your employees look for your consistency. The city looks for consistency. They're looking for your leadership, as it relates to the safety of that city.

So you have to have some background and understanding of what you're trying to achieve and stand for something. And that's what the public appreciates. And I think that's what you have to be, to be successful.

PHILLIPS: You know, I have to ask this before you head off to your prayer breakfast and activities that you have going on today. Word leaked out about a week ago that you definitely are going to seek a -- or another term. Are you going to?

PARKS: Well, I'm going to think about it while I'm on vacation. The charter requires me to, first week of February, to make that decision. And as I told everybody after having a conversation with my wife and my psychiatrist, I'll make that decision. PHILLIPS: There's an interview I'd like to have, your psychiatrist. All right, Chief Bernard Parks, thank you so much.

PARKS: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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