America's most senior black police officer told to step down

The chief of the Los Angeles police department was yesterday asked to step down from his post, triggering a potential political dispute. Bernard Parks, the most senior black police officer in the country, failed in his bid to win a second term.

The LA police commission president Rick Caruso announced yesterday, "with regret", that the commission had decided by a vote of 4-1 not to renew the chief's contract.

The president said that poor morale in the police force, a drop in the number of officers and a rise in crime in the city were among the factors that persuaded the commission. Mr Caruso said that the decision had followed a "rambunctious" session and a long interview with Mr Parks.

The police officers' union had fought a long campaign to get rid of their chief, claiming he was too strict a disciplinarian. The LA mayor Jim Hayn had also urged the chief to go. The officers did not like Mr Parks's policies of requiring every complaint by a member of the public to be investigated in detail.

"I'm deeply, deeply disappointed," said John Mack, the head of the Urban League in LA, adding that it was a blow to the African-American community. "Los Angeles is the loser in this decision." He predicted that the decision would precipitate a police crisis.

The chief, who was once named as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine, had fought hard to retain his post, writing a long article in the Los Angeles Times only last Sunday in which he claimed that he had done a good job.

His term was clouded by a corruption scandal in which officers were accused of reselling crack cocaine and shooting unarmed suspects.

Leading black politicians had demonstrated outside the commission and had warned that there would be a reaction to a decision to move Mr Parks, arguing that the black community in LA felt more secure with a black chief in a city with a poor history of race relations.

A recent LA Times poll showed that 51% in total of the public would have liked him to stay, compared to 28% who wanted him to go; but 81% of black Angelenos wanted Parks to carry on.

Mayor Hahn, a white liberal Democrat whose father, Kenny, was a respected liberal politician with a large black following, has seen his own popularity plummet as a result of his stance. Magic Johnson, the former basketball star turned entrepreneur is now hinting that he may himself run for mayor next time around.

It is now anticipated that the new chief will be a member of the Latino community.