I really hate it when I get good stuff too late to publish in The Wave (meaning after deadline). But you readers keep reminding me of something I keep forgetting: I have a blog now and I can disseminate information and my opinions anytime, regardless of The Wave deadline. That’s a good thing and I must share this letter with you now, because it may become moot after April 22.
 
As I reported in this week’s Soulvine, the Police Commission and four community people expressed unanimous opposition Tuesday to Bernard Parks’ attempts to retain Parker Center as the name of the new police administration building scheduled to open in November. They were all offended by late LAPD Chief William H. Parker’s blatant racism against the city’s Blacks and Latinos and the brutality and abuse his police force routinely exerted on those communities.
 
U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wanted to attend Tuesday’s commission meeting to express his feelings about Parker and the continued use of his name, but was unable to do so because of a prior commitment. Instead, he wrote the following letter to Anthony Pacheco, Police Commission president:
 
“Dear Commissioner Pacheco:
“I write you not in my capacity as a federal judge, but as a former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, as a longtime resident of the city of Los Angeles, and as a former vice chairman of the California Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, which held hearings on the practices of the Los Angeles Police Department while William H. Parker was chief of police.
 
“I read … about the naming of the new police department building. Unfortunately, I must leave tomorrow for San Francisco and therefore will not have an opportunity to appear in person at the commission meeting on Tuesday.
 
“I write to oppose the naming of the new building after Chief Parker. In addition to the racist comments regarding African-Americans … , you should be aware that Chief Parker also stated that Latinos in Los Angeles were “not far removed from the wild tribes of Mexico.” His bigotry knew no lines, at least as far as minorities were concerned.
 
“Moreover, when I returned to Los Angeles following law school in 1958, I learned that a number of people used to answer their phones by saying “F--- you, Chief Parker.” The joke reflected the fact that it was well known that members of the Los Angeles Police Department were tapping the phones of people in whose political activities they or Chief Parker were interested.
 
“Finally, it is a fact that the police intelligence squads used to photograph persons of political interest arriving or departing from the Los Angeles Airport, as well as in other places, partly, at least, in order to collect information that would be of political value. For example, Chief Parker showed pictures of then-Attorney General and later Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, accompanied by a purported girlfriend named Sabrina, to then-Governor Edmund G. Brown. Attorney General Mosk was at that time planning to run for the United States Senate but withdrew from the race after word of the pictures circulated throughout the California political world.
 
“”In general, the department’s activities under Chief Parker contributed to racial divisions in our city and violated the constitutional rights of many of Los Angeles’ citizens of all ethnic backgrounds.
 
“Although there is no doubt that Chief Parker ended the prior widespread corruption in the police department, his contempt for the individual rights of citizens, and particularly for the rights of minorities, simply substituted one form of evil for another. Fortunately, we have now moved well beyond the outdated attitudes that permeated the department under the reign of Chief Parker. I believe that it would be as serious error, and an insult to the substantial number of minority residents of our city, to honor the memory of our long-departed chief by now naming our new police department building in his honor. I recommend naming the building simply Lois Angeles Police Department Headquarters.
 
“I enclose four copies of this letter for distribution to the other members of the commission. I am also sending copies to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council President Eric Garcetti.”
 
Sincerely,
Stephen Reinhardt
 
That’s one man’s opinion. You are urged to express yours Wednesday at 10 a.m. when the City Council is scheduled to discuss and vote on Parks’ motion to retain Chief Parker’s name on the new building. Go the meeting and let the council know how the city’s minorities feel about this.  
 
Damn, I wish Najee Ali was here!