Police Chief Pounds The Interview Beat For High Schoolers

0

Police Chief William Bratton was on the other end of a grilling last week, and seemed to enjoy it.


The tough questions came from the audience many of whom were high school students at a Town Hall Los Angeles meeting. The City Club gathering was broadcast by KPCC-FM (89.3) and hosted by Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison.


Bratton heaped praise on organizers of the immigrant marches on May 1, and on LAPD officers, who were pelted with batteries, bottles and bricks in a two-hour standoff with gang members who had joined at the end of the marches. Despite the huge crowds, there were only two arrests.


Bratton pointed out that the boycott was a boon for local drivers.


“People in L.A. had one of their best driving experiences, with no traffic on the freeways,” he said.


Bratton also said the LAPD will not be in compliance with the federal consent decree, entered in 2001, that lays out nearly 200 areas for improvement. He expects the decree to be extended beyond the June 15 deadline, primarily because the department has been unable to install a computer system to track misconduct by officers.


Elena Stern, vice president of government and media relations at the non-profit group Para los Ninos, got a sympathetic response from Bratton about the difficulties of people living on Skid Row.


“We’d like to do a lot more,” he said, adding that he is working on getting more officers to patrol the area for predators. “They are the people most in need of protection.”



At 67, Angelo Mozilo could be thinking about retirement. The dark-tanned, silver-haired chairman and chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp. could be spending more time counting his massive wealth, including the $160 million pay package he received last year, on top of the $57 million he earned in 2004.


But during a trip to India last month, Mozilo told that nation’s Economic Times that he has no intention of stepping down from his job, and that he believes he should be paid well, as should his employees.


“People should feel like a part of an organization and reap its rewards,” he said.


Instead, Mozilo is directing his efforts to more worthwhile goals. Earlier this year, Mozilo became chairman of Homes for Working Familes, a lobbying group that plans to educate lawmakers on the need for more affordable housing.



Staff reporter Kate Berry can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

.

No posts to display