It Says So Right Here
Remembering that he was standing up to his hips in partisan country, Mr. Pedersen developed the embryonic traces of a grin along his narrow, Scandanavian face. He told the audience the flyer announcing his appearance promised that he would be apolitical. The crowd had no desire to hear a moderate centrist investigate the joys of neutered neutrality.
Question from the Question Queen
Lee Welinsky, a former Democratic Club president, was the most persistent questioner, as usual. She always seems to be, whether the Rotunda Room is full, empty or on loan to Kansas City. She went away seeming convinced that the chief genuinely cared what the faceless, nameless people in the room said about the department, its reputation and past issues that are mostly dead but still nagging. When Ms. Welinsky wondered what the chief would make of a much-documented incident two years ago Veterans Day, he did not, typically, back off, pleading unfamiliarity. He contributed an appreciated opinion. Animated and annoyed, Ms. Welinksy described the scene of an anti-war demonstration by West Los Angeles College students at the large intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Overland Avenue. Eschewing a gentle beginning, Ms. Welinsky said that “Culver City has had problems with the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment.” Then she raised her question. Four horn-honking drivers were nailed with police citations for beeping their support to the demonstrators. An outrage, said Ms. Welinsky. “What do you think?” No stranger to pushing her interrogation along, Ms. Welinsky leaned on the chief to answer. At first, he resisted the temptation to leap onto a table and share his feelings. But he was edging toward a candid answer. She bumped up her degree of insistence. Regarding the First Amendment, the chief emphasized the importance of police officers knowing the spirit (as well as the strict interpretation) of the First Amendment. They should choose generously when to apply the spirit of the law, he said. “In the case you described,” Mr. Pedersen told Ms. Welinksy, “if the information you gave was accurate, I would say the officer(s) did not use very good judgment.” Ms. Welinksy sensed a new ally in her ongoing free speech mission. “I never would write a ticket for something like that,” Mr. Pedersen assured her.
The Story of a Celebrity
A masterful storyteller, Mr. Pedersen mixed, matched and contrasted his yarns, interspersing the very serious with the semi-titillating and the downright engaging ones. Horn-honking reminded Mr. Pedersen of a recent celebrity/hype incident involving a gentleman of recognizability and his horn. Tom Leykis, one of the more bombastic talk-show moderators in Los Angeles(97.1 FM), was in Culver City, from where Westwood One syndicates his show. Police Lt. Dave Tankenson said that July 13 was the day one of Culver City’s finest affixed a rare traffic ticket to Mr. Leykis’ list of lesser accomplishments. “Basically,” Mr. Tankenson said, “the violation, according to the Vehicle Code, was ‘unlawful display of a horn.’” No stranger to tooting his own horn, Mr. Leykis was accused of tooting his own horn. Mr. Leykis, who sometimes is furious because Wednesday seems to come on a Thursday, was furious. Mr. Pedersen, the chief, said that “Culver City” was “lambasted” for several days on Mr. Leykis’ volatile program. Last week, according to the chief, at Mr. Leykis’ request, the case went to court in Santa Monica. Not a tear was near Mr. Pedersen when he reported that the judge ruled against Mr. Leykis.
Postscript
A lady in the audience wanted to know what the chief was going to do about Culver City’s reputation that asserts police officers “give tickets to minorities because they are minorities.” The chief said he was familiar with the perception. “I will work hard to change it,” he said. “For one thing, when officers stop a driver, they need to explain clearly why they made the stop.” He urged the audience to be patient. “It will take awhile to get the perception changed,” he said. An organization man, to exhume a 1950s term, Mr. Pedersen said he was smilingly proud to be in line to become President of the County Police Chiefs Assn., a 47-agency group, in January. Among other dangling ends, he said that he spends 40 percent of his time on terrorism-related issues, that he wishes a way could urgently be found to bring home the troops from Iraq, and that he is vulnerable to disappointment. He recalled a recent invitation to a secretive, prestigious meeting related to terrorism. Only the privileged were allowed inside. Mr. Pedersen was feeling self-impressed about the exclusive information that had been shared with him. Until he arrived home and heard the identical report on CNN. He shook his head. The audience did, too, but they also applauded.
