People all over the Southland have been asking me what I thought of Police Chief William Bratton’s sudden announcement of his impending departure. I’ve been asked by my family and friends, my neighbors, public officials, community activists and even my colleagues in other media outlets about my feelings as to this turn of events and I’ve been reluctant to answer because, quite frankly, I’ve been too choked up to do so.

But it’s been a week now since Bratton dropped that bombshell and I’ve had eight days to wallow in my devastation and reflect upon the good times of the past seven years and the bad times that preceded them and ponder the effect of the black community’s loss of the one city official it could trust, and now I’m ready to express my feelings. At the moment, only an e-mail style rant will suffice.

I’m mad as hell about it! I hate it. I really hate it. I hate it with the intensity of a thousand suns and I think my head is about to explode! Bratton had a lot of nerve coming in here and overhauling the police department and developing in us a heretofore unfelt respect and pride in the LAPD — and then abandoning us to God knows what without so much as a fare-thee-well.

It’s like a marriage gone shockingly awry. Since the dawn of time, we were in a violent, abusive relationship with the LAPD in which the department battered and killed us, demeaned and denigrated us, framed and subjected us to a steady stream of racist invectives to the point that sometimes we believed we deserved to be mistreated.

Then, former Mayor James Hahn — in the one and only good thing he did for the city — brought forth Bratton from the east to head the LAPD. Bratton had actively sought the chief’s job and we, as is the case of many battered spouses, had nothing but misgivings and forebodings about this new chief of abuse, coming in here as he did, talking about “broken window” crimes and calling our most prominent anti-police activist a “nitwit” on national TV. We thought he was nothing but bad news.

Yeah, we were gearing up to hate Bratton just like we did his predecessors William Parker, Daryl Gates, Bernard Parks and the short-timers in between. But something unheard of happened with Bratton: He talked to us and he listened to us and took our views into account. He made changes that improved our neighborhoods, perceptions of the cops and of ourselves.

We actually began developing a rapport with the cops. He made us believe we mattered. He made us love him and now he’s dumping us! It’s like being in what you think is a happy marriage for seven years and suddenly your spouse announces one day “Honey, I’m leaving you. I’ve found something else I want better, so I’m outta here! Take care of yourself..” Damn, that hurts.

Bratton has been deceitful about our relationship and I hate that most of all. Sure, this man is entitled to make whatever decisions he wants about his life and career, but he ought to have been truthful about it, if not from the beginning he certainly should have been forthcoming about his future plans before he signed on for a second term as police chief.

He knew when he came here that he made a personal commitment to remain on this job for only five years, yet he shrugged aside every suggestion that arose over the years of his possibly moving on to something else with “I’m not going anywhere. I love it here, blah, blah blah.” He even repeated that lie after he recently sold his house! He could have told us that after the federal consent decree was lifted that he was leaving. But no-o-o!

Bratton’s replacement will be appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. How does that make you feel? Villaraigosa has not appointed anyone with any ability to head anything in this city since he’s been in office.

Everything he gets his hands on turns to crap. Look at the school board, the Department of Transportation, the Housing Department, the Neighborhood Councils, DWP, MTA and even his own vastly overstaffed office!

The Police Department was the only entity in the city that was Villaraigosa-proof. After Bratton, what will happen to the LAPD? I shudder to think.
Then there are the people out there harboring the illusion that the new chief selected will carry out the practices and policies of Bratton. Yeah, right. One can only hope because nobody knows what somebody is going to do until he does it.

Bratton was the only official in this city who was actually sensitive to the needs and concerns of the people and now he’s going and leaving us to the likes of “Me, Me, Me” Villaraigosa, “Your Lord and Master” Bernard Parks, “I Saved the City Money” Carmen Trutanich, “I Apparently Don’t Care About the Needs of My Constituents” Dennis Zine, et al.

Yes, I’m so mad about Bratton’s desertion of us that I’m having trouble expressing myself. He says he’s leaving Oct. 31. I don’t think he should wait until Halloween to leave as he’s tricked and treated us enough, thank you very much. He should go now and mind that proverbial door.