officers - The Black Vault

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tended to anyone with an opinion
on the King beating.
Gates sat stoically through the
three-hour session, which was frequently
interrupted by chants of '
"Justice! Justice!" and "Daryl
Gates must· go!" Later, the chief
held an impromptu news conference,
declaring some of the criticism
"poppycock." ·
Although Gates has said there is
no evidence that the beating was
racially motivated, the long line of
witnesses at the hearing was drawn
mainly from the city's African­
American community and its lead-:
ers.
"I'm here today as a black man,"
said Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr.
(D~Inglewood), "and I'm here today
to ask Chief Gates a question: How
long? How long will"this.continue to
go on in our community?"
· Black peopl~, Tucker said; _are
afraid when they are pulled over
by the police: "They don't know :
whethe~ justice will_be !Jleted out~~
oi: whether a judge, jury and execu- ·
tioner is pulling up behind
-them. . . . How can we· r.espect a
department that does. not respect
us?" · · · ' · - \
Danny Bake"weu, leader of the·· ·\
civic group Brotherhood Crusade, ·1
received one of the crowd's ma11y
standing ovations when he declared:
"The people are sick and
tired of this! We are not going to let
black people be brl;ltalized in our
·Community .... ¥ou -take an oath
to protect and serve but when you
go to the black community all you
do is abuse."
. The meeting, held in the 450-se~t
auditorium at Parker Center, the
Police Department's downtown
headquarters, was standing-room
only. Outside the :police Department
building, several hundred protesters
picketed, shouting through bullhorns
and carrying signs sue}) as one
that read: "LAPD-Humans Need
Not Apply." · ..
Inside, while they were waitmg
for the commission. and Gates to
arrive, the crowd erupted into
chants of "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Daryl
Gates has got to go!" The chanting
continued, growing louder and
louder until it became thun~etous
as Gates and the commissioners
eQtered the room.
Later, they cheer:~d. wildl~·a~ a
representative of an association·
of black lawyers told the commissiOii
that-despite the widespr,ead
belief that Gates is virtually im-
1
mune to firing bec;mse o( the c~ty's
Civil-....Servic~. systeJ1!:-:-the panel_
does have the ~right to·dis.cipline,
suspend or remove the c}lief ...
_ Quoting· from the City Chart~r,
. Geoffrey T. Gibbs, a lawyer With
the John M. Langston Bar Assn.,
told the citizens panel that the
board may remove Gates for "incompetency,
dishonesty, discourtesy
or neglect of duty." While
noting that Gates is entitled to a
hearing before the Civil ServicE:
Commission, Gibbs said the board
may discipline the chief in the
·same manner that he disciplines his
own officers.
"Rodney Glenn King i~ fighting
to restore his eyesight and regain a
normal life,"· Gibbs said as the
crowd applauded. "We see no reason
why the commission should
hesitate to make Chief Daryl F.
Gates fight to keep his job."
At his news conference, Gates
made a plea for his supporters to
send letters to the Police Depart-
ment. 'l'he chief said he was worried
that the rank-and-file officers
would become demoralized after
seeing the hearing on television. ·
"I'm not asking them to support
me," Gates said. "I'm asking them
to send in support for the Los
Angeles Police Department. I _can
take care of myself."
There was no action by the
Police Commission on Thu~sd~y,
nor· was any expected. Comm~ssi~n
Vice President Melanie Lomax said
at the outset that the meeting_ was
intended to give the pubhc a
chance to voice its conce~ns ab?u,~
what she called "this tragiC affair:
At the end of the meeting, she said
the commission would take m?re
testimbny at it~ regular meetmg
next Thursday. .
- ·The commission, which curr:entiy
has two vacancies, is appomted
by Mayor Tom Bradley and has the
authority to change department~!
policies and practic~s. ,Lorn~ said
the community's v1ews w~ll. b~coine
part of the ~ommis~I?n s
investigation ip.to pollee trammg,
tactics and whether a pattern . of
police brutality exists in minonty
communities. BPadley requested
the investigation in the wake of the
King beating. ·
• Times staff writers Sheryl Stolberg,
· Hector Tobar and Lois Tlmnlck contrlb·
uted to this report.