L.A.'S NEW POLICE CHIEF MAKES GANGS NO. 1 PRIORITY

LOS ANGELES - Incoming Police Chief William Bratton called for a concerted
attack on the city's gangs as the way to reduce crime and make
neighborhoods safer.

Just moments after his public swearing-in ceremony Monday at the Police
Academy, Bratton said he planned to reorganize the department to respond to
gang violence, which has led to a spike in slayings and violent crime in
recent years.

``The issue I will face is reorganizing the department's robbery-homicide,
gang units and juvenile units,'' said Bratton, former New York City police
commissioner. ``They should be working together on what is the most serious
crime problem in the city, which is gangs.''

Bratton said he thought his department could aggressively target gang crime
without crossing the line into excessive force or racial profiling.

``We want them out there policing,'' Bratton said. ``They have to do it
constitutionally and they have to do it compassionately and they have to do
it consistently.''

Bratton became the fourth chief in the past 10 years and the 54th chief to
lead the department since 1876, when the first chief was sworn in. In
recent years, the Los Angeles Police Department has been plagued with low
morale, poor recruiting and charges of racial profiling that led to federal
oversight.

Most recently, officers in an anti-gang unit were alleged to have framed
suspects, lied under oath, filed false reports and in some cases shot
innocent people. The corruption scandal led to charges being dismissed or
convictions being overturned in about 100 cases.

Mayor James Hahn said Bratton ``understands the challenges and knows what
needs to be done'' to fix the problems at the department.

Bratton ran the New York Police Department from 1994 to 1996 before
resigning under pressure from then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He also headed
the New York City Transit Police and Boston Police Department.