A month ago, shortly after news broke that Los Angeles Police Chief Michelle Moore had allegedly ordered an investigation into Mayor Karen Bass' scholarship to the University of Southern California, a group of black religious and civic leaders called the They gathered at a church in Los Angeles and made several demands.

“If Chief Moore directed detectives to investigate Mayor Karen Bass for personal reasons, we call on him to resign immediately,” said Los Angeles Baptist Ministers President and Rev. KW Talos declared to reporters. “So, what if he doesn't resign? We're calling on the Los Angeles Police Commission to remove him immediately.”

Tullos then said the Baptist Ministers Conference had a “pretty decent” relationship with Moore until then.

“But at the end of the day, we all support the mayor, and any time she feels undermined, those relationships can change,” he explained. “The opportunity to get it right is very limited. And I believe our mayor is doing his best.”

“We rarely act proactively unless it's really important,” Tullos added.

On Friday, Mr. Bass and Mr. Moore stood before reporters at Los Angeles City Hall and announced that the chief would resign at the end of February. When he was appointed to his second term exactly one year ago, it was several years earlier than most expected.

The mayor said Moore explained to Bass that he was “accelerating the timeline to spend more time with his family.” And indeed, Moore choked up as he spoke many times about how much he missed his daughter and how he wanted to retire and move in with his wife to be closer to his “golden years.”

“It has been my great honor and privilege to have worked for the greatest police department in the world for more than 40 years, and for the past five and a half years as chief,” Moore said.

He will remain there to serve as a “sounding board” to the person selected by the Los Angeles Police Commission as his interim replacement while a nationwide search is underway for a permanent successor.

In the meantime, there will be plenty of speculation that the real reason Moore is resigning is that he jumped the bus by aligning himself with the outrage of black religious and civic leaders. .

In December, Times colleagues Libor Janney and Richard Winton disclosed a whistleblower complaint against the then-newly elected mayor over a $95,000 scholarship he received in a social work program at the University of Southern California. He accused him of ordering two Los Angeles Police Department detectives to investigate the mayor.

The scholarship, which was awarded years ago, became a point of contention in 2022, when federal prosecutors sued former University of Southern California dean and former Los Angeles City Councilman Mark, a longtime political ally of Mr. Bass. It was deemed “material” to the massive corruption case against Ridley. Thomas.

Prosecutors did not charge Bass with any wrongdoing. But during her campaign for mayor, the powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League placed 200 in television ads implying she was guilty of quid pro quo corruption similar to the one for which Ridley Thomas was ultimately convicted. I spent close to $1,000.

So you can see how Mr. Moore's claim that he wanted to investigate this matter is nerve-wracking.

He has repeatedly denied any involvement and angrily denied it on Friday. Meanwhile, Bass agreed with Moore, saying that the whistleblowing had nothing to do with the decision to retire early and that there was no “sunset” between the two, a phrase that is currently gaining attention in Democratic political circles. It seems there is. But I digress.

The truth is, all this political intrigue and posturing doesn't really matter. This is not the case for people in Los Angeles.

There are many more important reasons why Moore needed to step down early, and there are just as many reasons to hope the city will do better for Angelenos with its next chief.

Asked what his successor's priorities should be, Moore rattled off a list.

“To listen and understand the needs of our community. To understand the perceptions,” he said. “Be mindful of citywide efforts to look beyond Los Angeles.” [and ask] What does safety mean to you? ”

“This is to ensure that the sector moves in a strategic direction,” Moore added. “It's to avoid the mistakes we've made in the past. We're not trying to force our way out. That it's not all police function or police responsibility.”

I agree with all of that. It's a shame that under Mr. Moore's leadership, the LAPD isn't doing enough on nearly everything, even as its budget continues to expand.

Cases involving police misconduct continue to emerge, from a gang unit officer accused of theft and illegal traffic stop to a deputy police officer accused of pursuing a police officer with whom he was romantically involved.

That was preceded by a sloppy job in 2021 when the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad accidentally detonated an entire area of ​​South Los Angeles. After a large amount of fireworks were carelessly loaded into a containment container and detonated, cars were overturned, windows were broken, and houses were severely damaged. was destroyed, forever changing the lives of dozens of working-class Latinos.

And this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, hundreds of people headed to Venice to hold a vigil for Keenan Anderson, a black man who went into cardiac arrest and died after being repeatedly taped by LAPD officers. It was a year ago that I stood outside in a cold downpour. .

Anderson received most attention because he was the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrice Cullors. But he was just one of three people of color to die in the first few weeks of 2023 after encounters with LAPD.

All three are in the midst of a mental health crisis, and in each case, despite previously agreed reforms, police officers have been forced to ask mental health workers to help de-escalate tensions. Inexplicably neglected.

These incidents, along with many other Angelenos who continue to be killed or injured in police shootings, have prompted activists to demand Moore's resignation, even as crime rates have declined overall. It became. They gathered on the steps of City Hall to demand that Mr. Bass not be re-elected to a second five-year term.

But she endorsed Moore last January, a month after Bass became mayor. However, there were some caveats. In her letter to the Police Commission, she called for further reform of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“All three deaths highlight the need for continued and significant reform in how the city approaches public safety,” Bass wrote.

I would prioritize enacting reforms that are already planned, whether they ultimately address the heavy-handed tactics used by police against activists and journalists during protests or address obvious problems. I would like to settle down with the new chief. Racial profiling remains pervasivedetailed in the latest report from California's Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Commission.

Melina Abdullah, founder of Black Lives Matter-LA and one of Moore's fiercest critics, believes it was “the people” — fed up Los Angeles residents — who forced the leader to resign. . And it's true that even the Baptist Ministers' Conference was clearly enough.

“I know I made mistakes and blunders during my tenure,” Moore said Friday. “But I am also confident that my work has achieved success in a wide range of areas unparalleled by any other law enforcement agency in this country.”

LA can still do more.