Poetic Cop

Beverly Hills Police Chief Joseph Kimble is no one's stereotype of a cop. "I don't buy the Black Panthers," he says, "but at the same time, I feel that if the police spent more time denouncing racism, they would be a lot more effective." It was Kimble who supervised the extraordinarily lenient security forces at Woodstock last year. He even writes verse: "In the silence of the dawn / When attention of the world is gone, / I drop my shield so tears can speak. / Pardon me for being weak."

Such behavior made Kimble numerous friends among the young in the opulent enclave of Beverly Hills, but many of their parents and some of his own force were not enchanted. Accusing him of being, among other things, a "publicity hound," the Beverly Hills City Council two weeks ago voted by 3 to 2 to fire him from the $19,500 job he had held for a year.

But pro-Kimble forces mustered an army of petitioners. In one hour, 1,200 of the 2,000 students at Beverly Hills High School pledged their support. An ad hoc committee called the Beverly Hills Citizens for Law and Justice gathered 2,000 signatures. Last week the council rehired the chief. He promptly moved back into his office with the classical record collection that he sometimes plays while working.

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