It’s likely that the next chief of the LAPD will come from within. That speaks volumes about the success of the current chief.
The most flattering thing being said about Bill Bratton as he plans to leave the LAPD isn’t being said about Bratton, but about his successor: all the buzz is about promoting from within.
If I had to bet, I’d bet on Charlie Beck. But he’s not the only solid internal candidate. The place has changed so much that an internal promotion would represent a decision to continue progress rather than a decision to double down on the past. And I’d expect LAPD to start to resemble the NYPD as a breeding ground for police chiefs.
As for Bratton’s own future, here’s hoping that his move to Altegrity is a just a quick cash-in on his way back to public service. The FBI would be a stretch: agents aren’t really cops, counter-terrorism isn’t policing, and any fight to change Hooverville would run into serious resistance from the Ba’athist dead-enders at on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue. So I wouldn’t put the same sort of odds-on bet on Bratton’s success at the Bureau that I would if he took over another police department. Still, given the stakes, it’s a gamble I’d like to see happen.
Author: Jonathan Zasloff
Jonathan Zasloff teaches Torts, Land Use, Environmental Law, Comparative Urban Planning Law, Legal History, and Public Policy Clinic - Land Use, the Environment and Local Government. He grew up and still lives in the San Fernando Valley, about which he remains immensely proud (to the mystification of his friends and colleagues). After graduating from Yale Law School, and while clerking for a federal appeals court judge in Boston, he decided to return to Los Angeles shortly after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake, reasoning that he would gladly risk tremors in order to avoid the average New England wind chill temperature of negative 55 degrees.
Professor Zasloff has a keen interest in world politics; he holds a PhD in the history of American foreign policy from Harvard and an M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University. Much of his recent work concerns the influence of lawyers and legalism in US external relations, and has published articles on these subjects in the New York University Law Review and the Yale Law Journal. More generally, his recent interests focus on the response of public institutions to social problems, and the role of ideology in framing policy responses.
Professor Zasloff has long been active in state and local politics and policy. He recently co-authored an article discussing the relationship of Proposition 13 (California's landmark tax limitation initiative) and school finance reform, and served for several years as a senior policy advisor to the Speaker of California Assembly. His practice background reflects these interests: for two years, he represented welfare recipients attempting to obtain child care benefits and microbusinesses in low income areas. He then practiced for two more years at one of Los Angeles' leading public interest environmental and land use firms, challenging poorly planned development and working to expand the network of the city's urban park system. He currently serves as a member of the boards of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (a state agency charged with purchasing and protecting open space), the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (the leading legal service firm for low-income clients in east Los Angeles), and Friends of Israel's Environment. Professor Zasloff's other major activity consists in explaining the Triangle Offense to his very patient wife, Kathy.
View all posts by Jonathan Zasloff