Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Commission has named a Blue Ribbon Committee to assist in the development of criteria for selection of the next Chief of Police. The Committee will have voluminous material to review. Seven community meetings were held throughout Los Angeles where 195 individuals gave their suggestions. Forty thousand surveys were distributed and 3,555 were completed. In addition, the Police Commissioners have received numerous letters regarding the selection process. Along with providing their own input, the Committee members will compile, decipher and prioritize all of the public input to develop the criteria.

Each of the five Police Commissioners selected community members to voluntarily serve on the Committee. The criteria produced by this Committee will be used by the Police Commission as it considers candidates for Chief of Police.

The Blue Ribbon Committee is (in alphabetical order):

• William Allen – former founding President and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley in 2000, who is also the President of Meadowlane Enterprises and Meadowlane Music.

• Albert DeBlanc – a former Los Angeles Police sergeant and member of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission who is now an attorney and is active in community and civic affairs.

• Miguel Contreras – Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

• Rabbi Abraham Cooper – Associate Dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

• Jeff Donfeld – a partner in the firm Donfeld, Kelley and Rollman who is a founding member of Chabad of Pacific Palisades.

• Patricia Glaser – a partner in the law firm of Christensen, Miller, Fink, Glaser, Weil and Shapiro and an active member of the community.

• Antonio Gonzalez – President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

• Howard Halm – a partner in a law firm and former President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

• Lorri Jean – Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

• Ann Reiss Lane – former Los Angeles Police Commissioner, now Chair for Women Against Gun Violence.

• Ann I. Park – attorney and former President of the Korean American Bar Association.

• Page Miller – advocate for the Senior Lead Officer program and active community member.

• Connie Rice – Co-Director of the Advancement Project, a public policy and legal action group.

• Luis Rodriguez – a Deputy Public Defender and former President of the Mexican American Bar Association.

• Bishop Ulmer – Senior Pastor/Teacher at the Faithful Central Bible Church.

"We are pleased to have a group of such community-spirited individuals who truly care about this process," stated Police Commission President Rick Caruso. "These community members will give us an additional perspective and the more information in a process like this, the better."

The Los Angeles Police Commission will begin considering candidates after the application process closes on July 19, 2002. As the City Charter mandates, the Police Commission shall forward a list of three finalists, in order of preference, to the Mayor for final selection.