Third in a series
Re “Predicting How the Police Rebellion Will End”
In the 54 days since the police union at the Culver City Police Dept. boldly blared their brazen message to the community — they want Chief Don Pedersen gone, pronto — the anticipated momentum from the community has melted into a dud.
Not a speck of backing has developed, the reasoning goes, or they would have been volubly trumpeting their achievement.
If Mr. Pedersen’s camp welcomes this news, they are doing so mutely. As the Pedersen camp does all other things. An officer who supports the chief sought to explain:
“Peer pressure is a nasty thing,” he said. “It is as ugly, as poisonous, in our department as it is when a schoolyard bully intimidates his classmates.”
Another ranking officer who has carefully logged the trajectory of the rebellion that erupted late last year and the summertime pushback, said he is disappointed that more colleagues have not spoken out on behalf of the chief.
“You almost cannot imagine the strength of the peer pressure not to stand up for Pedersen,” he said.
“I have been here many years. I should know all of these people. And I tell you I have no idea how strong or how determined our side is. Don’t ask me to name names. I can’t name many. Hardly any.”
Intimates of Mr. Pedersen say that he will not be driven from office by the willpower of the board members of the Police Officers Assn.
Said one Pedersen friend outside of the department: “He told me, ‘When it is the right time for me to leave, I will. But I guarantee you it is not going to happen because someone in the department says so. No one will push me.’”
The chief, halfway through his fifth year as the successor to John Montanio, turns 50 years old next month.
This is a stepping-away time for many cops who have maxed out their pensions at 30 years. Not for Mr. Pedersen. A pilot in his early 20s, he will be significantly short of the maximum level.
The graying officer who last week belittled the police union charges against Mr. Pedersen as “petty and entirely personal,” said “the list of charges against Pedersen is practically weightless when compared to things (retired Chief) Ted Cooke was accused of. He was accused of all kinds of crap.”
Where, the veteran was asked, did he come down on Mr. Cooke, regarded by some as a polarizing leader?
A pause followed.
“I supported Cooke,” he said, “and I will support this guy.”
He made his stance sound not just reasonable but the only course for a sensible officer to take.
“You have to support the administration,” he said. “The guy’s not doing anything wrong. We are just talking about different styles of leadership. That is all.
“So the POA has accused him of having a style different from Cooke’s and of being slow in making decisions. So what? He is not unethical in the way that Cooke was.
“Here is the thing. Cooke would be with you, drinkin’, partyin’, picking up women, doing all kinds of things that guys do. This guy, though, is not about that.”
(To be continued)
