Bernard C. Parks

Infobox police officer
name = Bernard C. Parks


caption = Former Chief Bernard Parks after the April 29, 2002 hearing in which he was denied a second five year term as LAPD Chief
born = Birth date and age|1943|12|7
died =
badgenumber =
placeofbirth = Beaumont, Texas, USA
placeofdeath =
nickname =
department = Los Angeles Police Department
service = United States
serviceyears = 1964 - 2002
rank = Sworn in as an Officer - 1965
- Chief of Police - 1997
awards =
relations =
laterwork = Los Angeles City Council

Bernard C. Parks (born December 7, 1943 in Beaumont, Texas) is a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th District in South Los Angeles and former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Parks attended Los Angeles City College, received his B.S. from Pepperdine University, and holds a Masters in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Tenure as LAPD Chief & Rampart Division scandal

Appointed Chief of Police on August 12, 1997, Parks oversaw a significant drop in violent crime throughout the city and especially in South Central. However, during his tenure, the LAPD was rocked by a corruption and police brutality scandal involving the elite C.R.A.S.H. anti-gang unit of the Rampart Division in the overwhelmingly Latino Pico-Union and Westlake districts. Parks's generally inflexible and high-handed leadership during the crisis led to severe morale problems among the rank and file, and his public relations efforts were generally regarded as poor. Some commentators, including former officers, have noted that the activities involved in the Rampart scandal dated back to when he was the head of LAPD's Internal Affairs division and have accused his office of covering up the brewing scandal.

End of term

His term ended on May 4, 2002, as the recently elected Mayor James K. Hahn opted not to retain him. Parks was replaced by former NYPD commissioner William Bratton. However, Hahn's lack of finesse in handling the firing of Parks is generally considered to be a factor in Hahn's defeat his 2005 bid for re-election. Los Angeles' African-American community had helped propelled Hahn to victory in the 2001 mayoral election. However, he alienated that base with his removal of Parks, who was still highly-respected by many within that community.

Los Angeles City Council

Soon after the end of his tenure as LAPD chief, Parks capitalized on his popularity among South Los Angeles' black population to win a vacant seat on the City Council, where his relatively pro-business orientation and unconcealed enmity for Hahn made him a colorful media figure. Since Hahn's departure from office, Parks' most frequent media quarrels have been with Bratton, due to their disagreements on certain LAPD policies either implemented or discontinued during Bratton's tenure. Parks ran for mayor in the 2005 elections, but lost in the primary election, placing fourth. Part of his campaign was changing the LAPD officer work schedule back to a five day-eight hour schedule, rather than the current three day-twelve hour schedule implemented by Bratton.Parks took the first step in running for the seat held by county Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, forming a committee that would allow him to raise money for the June 8 election. Parks [1] is the first politician to make such a move toward seeking the seat, which encompasses much of South Los Angeles as well as the recently closed Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.

External links

* [http://www.bernardparks.com/index.html Official homepage]
* [http://www.parksforsupervisor.com Bernard Parks for LA County Supervisor homepage]
* [http://www.lacity.org/council/cd8/ Council district 8 homepage]
* [http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/2002/041202parks.html It's Not About Crime and Never Was: Bernard Parks' ouster as LAPD Chief] , Alex Alonso, Streetgangs.com, April 12, 2002 [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parks21aug21,1,949660.story?coll=la-headlines-california]
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parks4-2008may04,0,4617315.story "Bernard Parks' record as LAPD chief and city councilman is a mixed blessing in his race for L.A. County supervisor"--LA Times]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/bernard-c-parks]