Chief Goes Out Swinging on Last Day With LAPD

On his last official day as the LAPD’s top man, Police Chief Willie L. Williams gave a hint of what his future might hold after stepping down from a sometimes stormy tenure with one of the nation’s most-watched police departments.

He played golf.

And if the way the stocky Williams hit the ball Saturday morning was any indication, it is going to be a long, long retirement.

Teamed with actor James Woods in the 26th annual Los Angeles Police Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Rancho Park links, Williams took a Mighty Casey-like first swing at the golf ball and . . . hit a short, short shot.

His ball dribbled six inches off the tee.

“He meant to do that!” a cigar-chomping Woods told a crowd of about 100 onlookers.

Williams immediately bent over, grabbed the ball and proceeded to swack a cleanly hit drive about 200 yards down the middle of the fairway, barely avoiding a sand trap.

Not bad for a weekend hacker.

Actually, Williams has come a long way since he took the oath of office in Los Angeles on June 26, 1992. At least with his golf game.

The chief had never before hit the little white ball when he arrived from Philadelphia. But in 1994 he dared to tee one up at the annual LAPD tournament, which benefits the department’s police memorial foundation.

When asked what his handicap is now, Williams was not quite ready to go on the record.

“Want me to whisper?”

Williams concedes that while Tiger Woods might fire a 29 on the front nine, he’ll rack up that many strokes on the first five holes.

Department spokesman Lt. Anthony Alba was a little more blunt.

“The chief’s still a duffer,” he said. “And I think even he’ll admit that his wife’s a better golfer than he is. He’s not real competitive.”

The golf tournament was a celebrity-studded event where it was tough to tell the real cops from the fake ones. Billed by the department as a gathering of 160 “Superstars, Super Heroes and Super Cops,” the day featured actors who had played officers in the movies and on television as well as a slew of the real McCoys.

Joining Woods were actors Samuel L. Jackson, Charlie Sheen, Robert Wagner, Pat Boone, Joe Pesci, quarterback Steve Bono and actor-director Billy Bob Thornton, who passed up a sling blade for a set of golf clubs.

A wise-cracking Woods told the crowd that the LAPD took 20 years to forgive him for playing cop-killer Greg Powell in “The Onion Field.”

*

Missing from the tournament lineup was a celebrity who often plays the Rancho Park layout in West Los Angeles, a former football running back and sidelines sports commentator who once dashed through airports pitching rental cars.

Alba shook his head.

“I don’t think O.J. Simpson is gonna be here today,” he said. “The Juice and this department don’t run in the same circles anymore.”

On Saturday, the real cops included about three dozen officers specially selected from the ranks for past contributions to the police foundation. Another 30 officers--some in uniform, others not--supplied security for the event attended by hordes of autograph hounds.

“I’m not playing because I’m not a golfer,” said Officer Chris Rowles. “Even if I was, I don’t think I’d be out there. You know how it goes, it’s who you know.”

Among the LAPD brass present were candidates for Williams’ job--Deputy Chiefs David J. Gascon and Mark Kroeker, who shook hands and signed autographs like campaigning politicians, as well as Deputy Chief Bernard Parks. Also on hand was interim Police Chief Bayan Lewis.

But the cluster of autograph seekers that met many of the arriving players were more interested in bona fide star quality, pushing and shoving to get near anyone who bent to sign his name, often without knowing who they were after.

“Who’s that, who’s that?” one woman asked.

“It’s Harvey Korman.”

“Oh.”

Said another man to his partner: “I can’t believe what an idiot you are! You don’t know who Joe Santos is?”

Well, it has been 17 years and many reruns since Santos played Sgt. Dennis Becker, the on-screen cop who was always bailing out actor James Garner in “The Rockford Files.”

*

Kathy Clements and crony Diane Moye knew whose autograph they wanted: Gascon. They call themselves Gascon groupies.

“We met him here five years ago and he was so personable, we’ve followed his career ever since,” Clements said. “Last year, he even sent up a picture of him in his uniform!”

Added Moye: “Too bad the citizens of Los Angeles can’t vote for their chief. It’s all inside politics, that’s what it is. But our hearts go out to Chief Gascon.”

Out on the first tee, Williams received a ceremonial first ball from Brandon Navidad, the son of Officer Mario Navidad, killed last year in the line of duty.

*

Dressed in a Panama hat, maroon pants and a white golf shirt, Williams told the crowd that it was a fitting way to end his career as chief, by assisting the foundation that helps the families of officers with funeral arrangements, medical expenses and college tuition.

Asked about his goal on his last day as chief, Williams deadpanned: “Hit ‘em straight.”

Then came the near whiff.

Alba said Williams plans to visit Hawaii for two weeks before returning to Los Angeles to open his consulting firm.

So, will he have time to brush up on his golf game?

The outgoing chief smiled a broad smile rarely seen during his tenure at the top.

“Maybe,” he said.