
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090279
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Short

SUSPENDED POLICE CHIEF BACK ON JOB

Chief Daryl Gates resumed command of the Los Angeles Police Department on Monday, four days after he was suspended by the Los Angeles Police Commission.

But the judge who lifted the suspension scheduled a hearing on the matter in two weeks, helping assure that control of the department will remain a divisive political issue.

Gates, saying the commission acted illegally in suspending him pending an investigation of a police beating of a motorist, had asked the judge to reinstate him.

Because the judge issued only a temporary order reinstating Gates and set a new hearing for April 25, both sides declared victory in the first round of a court battle over the chief's job.

John Mack, president of the Urban League, one of the civil rights groups seeking to block Gates' return, said only the groups' intervention had prevented the City Council from overturning the suspension with a legal maneuver.

"The final chapter has not been written," he said. "We would have preferred that Chief Gates not return to office. But the big ball game is yet to be won."

- The New York Times

by CNB