officers - The Black Vault

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One out of every four Americans say their image of Los Angeles has
been tarnished by the· beating of Rodney G. King, according to a Los
Angeles Times national poU conducted March 9 through 11. Some
findings from the poU: . ·
• The survey of 1,518 adults found widespread awareness of the
incident across the nation, with nearly nine jn 10.(88%) saying that
they had l;teard or read something about the beating of King by Los
Angeles police officers.
• Of those surveyed, about one-quarter (27%) of the public said the
incident made them feel "less favorable" toward the city otLos
. :Angeles. Half of the public ( 49%') said their feelings about Los .
Angeles were unchanged by what happened to King, while another
12% did not feel they knew enough about the situation to judge it. .
The other 12% said they were unaware of the incident altoge~her,
The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 · :
percentage points: · ·
ported him deplored the beating.
Tlle chief wel)t so far as to apologize
to oth~r law enforcem~nt
agencies "because ·we have
brought shame and dishonor on the
policeprofession." ·
Cmdr, Lorne Kramer, president
.of the Los Angeles Police Com-·
mand Officers Assn., a 96-member
group made UP. of officers who
carry the rank of captain and
above, said policemen and women
"deserve the community's support,
for they too have been betrayed by
a few of the'ir own."
Kramer and Aliano, the Police
Protective League president, said
they would fight attempts by Mayor
Tom Bradley to. make police
chiefs subject ·to dismissal by the
mayor after a five-year performance
review.
~·Gates, who also said he .opposes
the mayor's plan, seemed clearly
touched by the show of support,
especially from the union. As the
crowd clapped, :Qe opened his
speech by remarking on the press
conference:
· "How does the song go? The
wind beneath my wings?
That's what you are. You are the
Wind beneath my wings. If I were a
~uch stronger guy, I would break
down and cry because that's the
way I feel."
nmes staff writers George Ramos,
Lois Tlmnlck, Hector Tobar and Tracy
Wood contributed to th.ls story.