24% of MTA Officers Rejected by LAPD

Nearly one-quarter of the MTA police officers who applied for transfer to the LAPD under a proposed merger of the two agencies have failed background checks and do not meet the LAPD’s standards for employment, officials said Thursday.

If the merger is approved by the City Council next week, the disqualification of 42 Metropolitan Transportation Authority officers--24% of the 177 who went through the background interviews--would leave the city with 135 people to fill 208 transit-policing jobs, forcing Los Angeles Police Department officers to plug the gap through overtime.

“LAPD has a higher standard than some law enforcement agencies. These officers are not meeting that standard, and therefore they’re not going to be accepted,” said Deputy Mayor Bill Violante, a former LAPD officer. “Does that mean the merger can’t take place? Of course not. And it should take place, because it’s the best thing for Los Angeles, it’s the best thing for the transit system, and it’s workable and it’s doable.”

Those denied spots at the LAPD would be guaranteed employment at the MTA for one year. But five of the 42 who did not make the LAPD face even harsher fates: Found during the LAPD background checks to have been dishonest with their employers at the MTA, these officers are subject to discipline and may be fired.

“I never expected the body count to be this high,” said LAPD Lt. Ken Hillman, one of two key players handling the proposed merger for the department. “I thought maybe a dozen would get lost in the scheme of things. They were going to be the high-risk people who’d built up a bad record over time. . . . It’s horrible. It’s the part of the process that makes me sick.”

Sources said that in addition to the 42 disqualified by the LAPD, another four officers remain in limbo. These have some glitch in their backgrounds, such as experimentation with marijuana 20 or more years ago, but have also had lengthy careers of good work at the MTA. So, officials are unsure what to do with them.

“It’s a ton of people, and I’m not happy about that,” MTA Police Chief Sharon Papa said of the final tally. “In some cases, they looked way back at juvenile activity. I think you need to look at their performance as a police officer.”

Papa’s own fate remains unresolved: Her background check has yet to be completed. She just started the process of applying for transfer to the LAPD this week, far behind her subordinates.

Beyond the question of whether Papa passes the background check is a controversy over what her rank should be after the merger. She and acting MTA Executive Director Linda Bohlinger think she should transfer as a deputy chief, the third-highest rung in the Police Department hierarchy. But LAPD brass say she should be a commander. Papa says she will not accept that without a fight.

“It’s very clear, when you look at the commander job duties and the deputy chief job duties, my responsibilities very clearly fall into the deputy chief,” Papa said in a recent interview. “I’m certainly not going to be downgraded if I don’t deserve to be downgraded. Everybody in this merger is going rank for rank. . . . I’m not going to be the only one downgraded and not say anything.”

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The product of about two years of negotiations, the proposed merger would split the current MTA police force in two, with the transit agency contracting with the LAPD and Sheriff’s Department to handle law enforcement regarding buses and subways. Of 120 officers who tried to transfer to the Sheriff’s Department, questions remain about 12 to 18, according to Undersheriff Jerry Harper.

The city would receive about $24 million a year from the MTA to operate the transit police force. Hillman said that would be more than enough to pay the salaries of the 135 officers, pay overtime to flush out the force and recruit people to fill the slots.

But some lawmakers are not so sure, and the prospects for approval remain dicey. Even the original proponent of the merger, the MTA officers union, has lost some of its enthusiasm because of the large number of disqualified officers. Some City Council members are concerned that the LAPD rejects will sue the city.

“We can’t proceed this way. We’re walking right into a lawsuit in which we’re vulnerable,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee. “I don’t see how we have a deal. No way.”

Times staff writer Tina Daunt contributed to this story.

* MTA JOB SEARCH

The MTA invited the ex-chief of Philadelphia’s transit agency to interview for top job. B5