Williams Denies Report He Undercut Police Sting Operation

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams on Thursday denied a published report stating that his 1988 transfer of Philadelphia police officers undercut a police sting operation.

“I have no knowledge whatsoever of ever being informed . . . a pending sting or other actions on or about Oct. 13, 1988,” Williams said in a written statement released by the LAPD. “If I had been so informed of such a plan, no movement of the targeted personnel would have been made.”

Williams was responding to a story in Wednesday’s editions of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The article stated that city and federal investigators in Philadelphia were looking into the sudden transfers as part of a probe into allegations of misconduct by Philadelphia police officers.

According to the article, two former Philadelphia police officials said Williams had been briefed about the pending sting operation and had transferred some of the involved officers a day before the trap was to be sprung, foiling the operation.

Philadelphia’s police department has been racked by scandal in recent months, but Williams, who spent 28 years in that department before coming to Los Angeles in 1993, has consistently declined to comment.

In his statement, Williams stressed that he was “open and eager” to cooperate with authorities but that his assistance had not been requested.