Interview With Willie L. Williams

MJ: Chief Willie Williams, thank you for joining us today.

WW: Thanks you for coming.

Law Enforcement Services

MJ: We're very curios about your job. Tell us what it is you do.

WW: Well, as the chief executive for the Los Angeles Police Department, I'm responsible in general for the day-to-day operatios of the police department in the second largest city in the United States. I have more than 11,000 sworn and non-sworn employees. We deliver service to three and a half million people who live ina city of 450 square miles, and my operating and capital budget is 1 billion 50 million a year.

We're responsible for delievering general law enforcement services, dealing with response to crime, enhancing the quality of life for the people in the ommunity particularly dealing with what we call "quality of life issues" - graffiti, vandalism, loud noise, music, drinking - that affect the main quality of life inthe neighbourhood but are not your major crimes.

We are also responsible for security for major events in our city's sporting and social events, presidential secutiry but, in general, I am responsible for overseeing general law enforcement services here in Los Angeles.

MJ: How long hav you been on the job here?

WW: I've been the chief of police in Los Angeles now almost three years. I started in June of 1992, and I've been a chief of police for seven years, includeing my four in Philadelpiha.

Twenty-five ASsignments

MJ: Could you take us through your law enforcement career?

WW: Yes, I would be glad to. I started law enforcement when I was 20 years old as a police officer in the city of Philadalphia in Pennsylvania, which is on the East Coast of the United States. Over the next 20 years I moved up through the ranks. I held each rank from patrol officed, detective sergeant, lieutenant, captain, inspecot, and in 1988 in March I was appointed deputy police commissioner, which is the second-highest level, and then in June of '88 I was appointed police commissioner, which is the same as chief of police.

I had 25 different assignments during my career in Philadelphia before becoming chief of police. I worked patrol as a uniformed supervisor, I woked narcotics as a supercison. I was a detective in our downtown venter city area. I worked as a captain in charge of two - in Philadelphia we call the areas of statios or precincts - two geographic areas. I worked as a commanding officer of a speical unit which was called Civil Affairs, which handled major disturbances and marches and demonstration for any reason.

I was the assitant commanding officer of the training Burau, also as an inspector, where I was responsible for implementing the first in-service training program in Philadelphia.

As deputy poilce commissioner I was a deputy commissioner for administrative services which oversaw the budget, training, and most of the administrative duties in the department.

And then in June of 1988 I was appointed policecommissioner where I oversaw the entire department. I served there for four years until beging appointed chief police here in Los angeles.

Philadelphia/ L.A. Differences

MJ: How different is it working in Philadelphia versus Los Angeles? What kind of changes did you see?

WW: Well, there are cosmetic changes and then there are real changes. The positive side is that it doesn't get real cold in Los Angeles. The weather is very nice. You can basically go around as we're dressed today year round but, seriusly, Los Angeles is a much larger city. It is more than three times the size of Philadelphia. However, its police department is much understaffed. A city of this size probably needs at least 11-12-13,000 poilce officers. Today we have less than 8,000 sworn employees.

In Philadelphia I had 6,500 sworn ina city that's less than half the size of Los Angeles.

Some of the other differences, Los Angeles is probably the most ethnically diverse city in America. We have people in our public schools, for example, who speak more than 150 different languages, just in the public school system. It's to the point where we now pay our officers a language bonus if they can speak and write or read different languages and we pay language bonuses, about 15 or 20 different languages.

Because of the cultural, the ethnic diversity, the financial diversity of our community, it really taxes you as a police chief to provide an even and equitable level of services all across the city. Also, Los Angeles is a worldwide city. It's a city that when somethng happens it's seen around the world. That puts additional pressures on the men and the women in the organizatio and the community to always try to make sure that what is seen is fair and accurate, and we also recognize that if we stub our toe or do something wrong that that negative image goes across.,

So those of us in law enforcement here in the city recognize that a great deal of the pictures of America and the United States are what people see from Los Angeles.