officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81)
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•(Indicate page, name of
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bffic~rs Offer 1
Support for
Gates Amid
More Attacks
By SHERYL STOLBERG
TIMES STAFF WRITER
The Los Angeles Police Department ..
1
closed ranks around Chief Daryl F. Gates
on Wednesday, blasting his critics, praising
his leadership and urging him not to submit
to the '~lynch-mob mentality" by resigning.
In a powerful show of support, nearly 60
commanding officers-among them Assistant
Chief Robert Vernon and at least three
deputy chiefs-held a news conference at
the Police Academy to vigorously defend
Gates' handling of the police beating of an
Altadena man.
At one point, Deputy C~ief William
.. Booth defiantly held up !m American Civil
Liberties Union newspaper advertisement !
that calls for the chief to quit. Booth had
. drawn a red circle and a slash over the ad;
waving it in front of television cameras, he
urged residents to "tear it out and put your
own little hieroglyphics on it and th~n mail
it to Chief Gates."
The high-ranking officers were joined
by the Los Angeles Police Protective
League, a union that has often been at odds
with Gates. The leagt.te's.,pres~dent,- Lt.
George- Aliano, announced he is sending ·
ballots this week asking its 8,200 members
to issue a vote of confidence for the chief.
Gates was not on hand. to hear theremarks,
but he addressed the group afterward
as the keynote speaker at the Los
- Angeles County Peace Officers Assn.'s i
· annual "LAPD Day" luncheon. The chief,
·. who was greeted with a 30-second stand- 1
ing ovation, used the platform to deliver a
Edition:
LOS ANGELES TIMES
THURS . ,t.1AR 14 I 19 91
METRO SECTION, PAGE 1
OFFICERS OFFER SUPPORT FOF
T~: GATES AMID MORE ATTACKS
Character:
or
Classification:
Civil Rights
80-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
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SERIAU~ED·-........... - FILED~-.-.---•
rousizt speech that ·served as a
morale builder for his officers. ·
Before the enthilsiastic crowd of. ·:.
300, ~ates called the Police De-.
MAR 20 1991
partm nt "the greatest -department
in the country" and ripped into his
criticsi particularly the press. and
FBI
the A~£:LU. He'held up the department'S...handbook
on human relations
td declared that the . civil
Iiberti .s group had "vjolated every ·
prece t of human relations that we cers involved in the March 3 beatset
for~.'' ·· . · ing of Rodney G. King.
· Thep, ticking tpoutfthem? Com'p. ~_ssion! Have _after it was captured on videotape
LOS ANGELES I
1})-Yr-}
~ey s own o~e ~unc~-- o( compas- _by -an amateur photographer. The
s10n? .. PreJudice! They are so tape showed King, who had been
preju iced against police_. They pulled over by police in Lake View
h~te U!l and clearly t~~y hate me~ I Terrace after allegedly leading
know ~hat,_ and I don t blame them them on a high-speed chase, being
for hating me, but I blame them for kicked by several officers who also
hating you.'' - .•., · ·· · ·· .hit him as many as 56 times with .
Meanwhile, civil rights lead~rs · their-batons. ·
stepped up their attacks.9n G~tes. King is scheduled to undergo
With more than 200 letters calling ... surgery today at an undisclosed
for the chiefs ouster Before them, hospital to repair injuries he suf-
-the AGLU and other· ciVil rights lered during the beating. His docgroups
a_nnounced "Operation tor, Edmund Chein, said new tests
Overhaul," a nine-point campaign show that bones at the base of
to end .police brutality ·and push King's skull are broken in nine
Gates 6ut of office. The first step, places- on the right side and two on
· they sind, will be ·tp·press for a the left.
blue-ribbon panel ·to conduct an · Chein said two of the five doctors
independent review ?f the Police who are treating King "have never
· I>eparqnent. · .. ~ .. seen this before. It's unusual even
·:"We. intend to ·xeep. up lhe ··to us. The force of the blows was
pi·essure," said Ramona Ripstdtl, tremendous.''
executive director of·the ACLU of The Lqs Angeles Police Com-
Southern Califo~a. "We thi~ mission ·wm conduct a special
that Gates must resign. . . . And to hearing today to gather communithose
people to say to me that he · ty reaction about the King case.
has steadfastly said that he won't· Commissioner Melanie Lomax said
re_sign, ;I_ remind you ~hat,Richard the panel, w.hich has the authority
NIXon ~d the same thing. . to change departmental policies
As the harps flew back and forth, and practices, has been inundated
the Lqs Angeles County .GrCl-Jld with calls about the incident.
Jury_ qtet !or the third day to In their remarks Wednesday,
consider eVIdence against the offi- Gates and the officers who_ sup-
FBI/DOJ