officers - The Black Vault

FD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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(Indicate
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
'Review
page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
THE OUTLOOK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1~~: THURS. ~R 14, 1991
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Edition: Front Section, Pagel
Trtle:
REVIEW OF LAPD WIDENS
ofLAPD
widens
CIVIL RIGHTS
Character:
or
Classification: 80 - 33 B
Submitting Offic;e:
LOS ANGELES
lndexin SEARCHED INDEXED·--- 1
SERIAUZEO fiLE0•----1
MAR 2 2 1991
FBI LOS ANGELES 0
1/Jl!J,
By James Rowley
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Attorney
General Dick Thornburgh today
ordered a Justice Department
review of all reported
-complaints.of police brutality in
· Los Angeles in the 'last six years
.to determine if there is a pattern
of misconduct.
Thornburgh's announcement
came after he met with two
lawmakers who urged the Justice
Department to broaden its
investigation of the beating of a
motorist by Los Angeles officers
to include other allegations of
brutality against the city's police.
The attorney general; said hi
a statement that he had asked
the Justice Department's c;Jivil
.rights division "«;> unde~e a
review of all offic1al complaints
f'lled in thiS area withii!- the past
six years to. discern whether any
pattern of misconduct is apparent."
Thornburgh also ordered the
department's National Institute
of Justice to determine if there
is a correlation between poli~e
brutality and a lack of adequate
training and internal discipli~ary
procedures. :· .
· The attorney general issued
the statement after a breakf~t
~~t~g with. Reps. John Con­
Y:~~s,,,p-:~.H~h. an~ Edolphus
Towns .. D-:N.l'., chairman of the
Coiigressiohal"'Black Caucus.
Conyers said Thornburgh also
$-eeR to examine any additional·'-specific
complaints of
' brutality that:have not been reported
.JiG •. authorities over the
last .six ~ears.:. ·
, .~_,The .six-year period covers
· the. statute. of limitations on
; federal civil rights crimes for
which poijce could be prosecut­
M~.:Conyers' sAid.
·xoiiyer8'li8S called for a federal
mve~tigation to determine
if there ·i:s~-a, "culture of violence"
in the Los Angeles police,
as eVidenced by the March
3 .~~tiAi. _b~- three white offi­
~~ ~f.~.b~c;:k motorist.
,. The ·beating. with police
sticlts 'wa.B recorded on videotiti>t(by.
apa8Ser-by and broadeast
. liti ·nWide.
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