The Los Angeles Police Department has officially begun its search for a new chief. Public meetings commenced last week to offer the community an opportunity to express opinions on the matter, and the Los Angeles Police Commission will soon be releasing its criteria for the position. The National Center for Women & Policing and the Feminist Majority Foundation have a long history of calling for reform of the troubled LAPD, and have challenged city leaders to seize this opportunity to choose a leader who will truly make change in the department. The two groups reminded the City Council and the Police Commission of the motions unanimously approved by the City Council in 1992 and 1993 that urged the LAPD to move towards gender balancing the department and set guidelines for outreaching to women candidates for the position of chief, and for evaluating a candidate for chief’s record on recruiting and retaining women and responding to domestic violence crimes. Rumors that Mark Kroeker, the current Chief of the Portland Police Bureau and a former LAPD officer, is in the running for the position have prompted objections from the gay and lesbian community and domestic violence advocates. While Kroeker worked for the LAPD he was a member of what was known inside the Department as the ‘God Squad’ and preached to other officers about the evils of a homosexual lifestyle and a woman’s need to be submissive to her husband. In an audiotape made in 1989 Kroeker stated that one of the reasons for the downfall of American society is that women don’t understand their submissive role in the family.
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