IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE POLICE CHIEF

The announcement that Bill Lansdowne is to be police chief of San Diego
signals both good and bad news for San Jose. The good news is that the
selection of Lansdowne is a tribute to his and San Jose's accomplishments
and leadership. It is also a recognition that the performance of San Jose's
cops continues to mark it as a model for large city police departments. The
downside is that the job of the police is far more difficult and complex
than a quarter of a century ago when I took the helm as San Jose police
chief. It makes it all the more important that the city get the selection
of Lansdowne's successor right.

Police chiefs may wear four stars on their shoulders, but that's where the
resemblance to a military commander's authority ends. The police are
civilians, public servants, not soldiers. Consequently, police chiefs do
not and should not have the authority of generals.

Police chiefs like to joke that successful chiefs appear to walk on water,
but they prevail only because they know where the submerged rocks lurk in
the creek. In other words, an effective police chief must lead in the face
of myriad state laws, labor contracts and political influences that work to
obstruct what needs to be done. Barking out orders simply doesn't get the
job done.

Furthermore, our nation's expectations of the police have evolved
considerably since the first police force was formed in New York City in
1845. People now routinely count on the police to do the impossible, like
keeping their kids from being exposed to and using pot. And since 9/11,
cops throughout the nation are expected to spot terrorists and nail them
before they attack us. Although the police are supposed to do so much more,
the public doesn't cotton to police chiefs whining about severe budget
shortfalls.

Challenges ahead

Despite these difficulties, we in America are fortunate in having, with
some glaringly painful exceptions, dedicated police officers and police
leaders. Yet the challenges ahead are unprecedented. In a recent speech,
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist referred to inter arma
silent leges -- Latin legalese meaning that in times of war, the laws are
silent. In other words, as the war against terrorism escalates, police
chiefs will not be able to entirely rely on court rules to establish the
necessary balance between police actions to protect the innocent and
observing individual rights. Even more than usual is hanging on the
shoulders of San Jose's city manager and elected officials in choosing a
new chief.

Typically, large cities with troubled police forces go outside to select a
new chief. Cities with low crime rates where the police enjoy the public
trust usually pick the new top cop from inside. Moreover, jurisdictions
where the mayor or other elected officials hold strong power tend to select
police chiefs from within who have political pull. Cities run by
professional city managers prefer national searches in which inside
candidates compete with outsiders.

Range of experience

I left a fairly high position in the New York City Police Department to
become police chief of Kansas City, Mo., when the chief of that city was
named director of the FBI. I came to San Jose three years later, when it
hired me in another national search after its police chief was asked to leave.

Thus, my 35 years in policing took place in New York, under a mayor with
near dictatorial powers; in Kansas City, under a police commission
appointed by the governor of Missouri; and in San Jose, under a city
manager appointed by the mayor and city council. My conclusion is that the
governmental structure responsible for the selection and supervision of a
police chief is less important than the character, integrity and competence
of the city officials in power.

San Jose has a good selection process in place that allows for input by the
public, elected officials and the city's professional staff. I study police
departments and criminal justice nationally. I confess my bias. A city the
size of San Jose should do a national search to select the very best. But
the San Jose brass, including Assistant Chief Tom Wheatly, Lansdowne's
alter ego, will have a decided advantage over other candidates from
departments seeking to emulate what San Jose police commanders have already
achieved.

JOSEPH D. MCNAMARA served as San Jose police chief from 1976-1991. The
author of five books, he is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at
Stanford University. He wrote this for the Mercury News.