Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman struggled to answer a basic question in a recent CNN interview: name a police chief she admires. The City Council member came up empty when asked by CNN’s Elex Michaelson, adding to a rough stretch for her campaign after she praised former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates as the “gold standard” on immigration enforcement during a recent debate.
Raman has since walked back that comment. Gates, who led the LAPD for 14 years until 1992, remains a deeply divisive figure in Los Angeles because of his association with police brutality, the militarization of the department, the Operation Hammer sweeps of the 1980s, and the policing culture tied to the 1991 beating of Rodney King.
“It was a mistake to reference his name at all,” Raman said. “I was trying to make a point and I fumbled that point. That point was not to praise Daryl Gates in any shape or form. I sincerely apologize for mentioning his name. I know it causes real pain for so many people across Los Angeles and I shouldn’t have said it.”
Raman’s original remark, made during a debate, was: “This city used to be the gold standard in terms of noncooperation with immigration enforcement years ago, under the era of Daryl Gates.” She has said she was referring to Special Order 40, a policy Gates signed in 1979 barring LAPD officers from stopping or questioning people solely to determine their immigration status. According to Raman, that policy traces back to former Mayor Tom Bradley’s administration and helped lay the groundwork for the Sanctuary City Ordinance she later authored.
The comment nonetheless drew sharp criticism, including from Mayor Karen Bass.
“To mention Daryl Gates and to tie his name with gold standard, she obviously does not know the history of the city. She most certainly does not know the history of Black and brown Angelenos or those words would’ve never come out of her mouth,” Bass said.
The controversy follows Raman’s stated position that she would fire current LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell if elected mayor, though she has not named a replacement. Her inability to name a police chief she admires during the CNN interview has drawn renewed attention to her broader approach to law enforcement policy as the mayoral race continues.
Michaelson said additional portions of his interview with Raman would air on his nightly CNN program, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
