The Making of the Police Chief, 1997

It’s a campaign that has been years in the making, complete with public appearances, glad-handing and celebrity endorsements. The quest to become the next Los Angeles police chief is akin to a political race, with Deputy Chiefs Mark Kroeker and Bernard Parks as its front-runners.

“All of the candidates have been jockeying and positioning for the top for a long, long time,” Councilwoman Laura Chick said. “Every time something negative came out about Chief [Willie L.] Williams, things would bubble up again and we’d get calls and letters.’

Now, with Williams officially out of office as of May 18, the contest to become the city’s top cop has never been more intense.

“I’m not going to be a shrinking violet,” Kroeker said in an interview Tuesday. “The competition is going to be fierce. That being the case, I’m going to do everything I can to compete for the job.”

By most accounts, Kroeker--who is the overwhelming choice of the rank and file--is the underdog. Sources close to the mayor say he is leaning toward Parks to take the chief’s job.

As a result, Kroeker has been forced to wage a far more public campaign, while Parks nurtures his relationships with city officials behind the scenes.

“Despite the mayor’s comments that he was recommending my colleague Bernard Parks as interim chief, I still believe that this is an open, competitive process and there will be integrity in the system,” Kroeker said. “I have to assume that in order to apply. If I didn’t assume that, I wouldn’t apply.”

Parks is no less ambitious than Kroeker.

The two men have respectfully competed for promotions throughout their professional lives, and more than a year ago, Parks raised eyebrows at a dinner of top political and law enforcement leaders when he described the dinner marking his presidency of a local police group as “an installation, not a coronation.”

Pausing, he then added: “It’s not a coronation yet.”

But those comments notwithstanding, Parks’ efforts to win support so far mostly have been far more low-key than Kroeker’s.

Where Kroeker’s broad base of supporters is getting out the message for him, Parks has worked Mayor Richard Riordan’s inner circle, speaking frequently with the mayor and his closest advisors. Where Kroeker guardedly discusses his prospects, Parks refers most calls to the LAPD’s press office.

On Tuesday, Parks had little to say about the contest for the job.

“In my judgment, the chief of police job is not a political campaign. The Civil Service Commission and the Police Commission are the ones who need to put the process in place,” Parks said. “It’s not in anyone’s interest to be doing this in a soap-opera-like manner.”

In part, the two merely have a difference in style: Kroeker specializes in community relations, while Parks is a more inward-looking manager, steeped in police procedure and management.

Still, Parks and his wife, Bobbie, are longtime fixtures in Los Angeles politics. They appear at functions across the city, and they have kept up their busy public schedules even as the chief’s race has steadily heated up.

At a recent dinner of the African American Chamber of Commerce, for instance, Parks strode into a hotel ballroom in black tie, Bobbie at his arm. Tall and lean, Parks cuts a striking figure, and several guests interrupted their conversation to ask who he was.

“That,” a dinner companion answered, “is the next chief of police.”

Kroeker and his supporters, however, are nowhere near giving up.

Having commanded bureaus in the San Fernando Valley and now in South Los Angeles, Kroeker has many loyal followers throughout the city who are coming to his aid.

“I tell them, ‘You’re free to do whatever you’d like, but I’m not asking for you to do anything,’ ” Kroeker said.

He’s not stopping them, either.

“It’s a public process and they have a right to make their views known,” he said.

And they have.

Director Steven Spielberg telephoned at least one City Council member to voice his support for Kroeker; actor Lorenzo Lamas has worked the phones too. Politicians from Washington to the San Fernando Valley have made their pitches for Kroeker, as have the consulates of Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Letters have been circulated and signed by Kroeker’s backers, who recently lined up to lobby the Police Commission, which is responsible for selecting three top candidates for the mayor’s consideration.

At Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting, which was intended to get the public’s input on what criteria should be used to select a new chief, Kroeker supporters outnumbered those for Parks.

“The troops on the street need a leader. They need a leader they can respect, they need a leader they can look up to and they need a leader who will lead,” said one of Kroeker’s supporters, Ed Cholakian. “My candidate is Mark Kroeker. . . . He has had the experiences that are so necessary to lead this Police Department.”

At that point, Commission President Raymond C. Fisher asked speakers to limit their comments to the issues that the panel should use in judging the candidates, instead of voicing their support for anyone.

“We don’t want to turn this into a [hearing where] if somebody is for Chief Kroeker then somebody has to stand up and weigh in for Chief Parks,” Fisher said. “We’re not counting names today, if ever we do.”

The next speaker said Kroeker should get the job.

Several observers said the politicking is only going to get worse.

“There’s more pushing and checking than an NBA basketball game right now,” said one City Hall insider. “Things will get rough.”

Despite the pressures, Kroeker said his relationship with Parks remains “cordial and friendly.”

“There’s a mutual respect that I hope to retain in the middle and after this thing is over,” Kroeker said. “In the press of things we’ll throw our arms around each other and give each other a hug, but it’s hot competition, make no mistake about it.”

Times staff writer Jim Newton contributed to this story.