officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81)
{Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
oate:LOS ANGELES TH1ES
Edition: FRI., MAR 15, 1991
METRO SECTION, PAGE 6
r~:
REASSURING A TROUBLED
CITIZENRY
or
Classification:
Civil Rights
80-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
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SERIAUlEQ
fiLE0~---1
MAR 2 2 1991
r Reassuring a Troul;>led Citizenry
Welcome involvement by U.S. attorney general in police brutality issue
A broad, federal civil rights
investigation of police brutality
complaints is exacUy what
Los Angeles and other cities
need in the wake of the horrific
·videotaped beating of a
motorist suspected of speeding.
The unprecedented national
inquiry ordered by U.S.
Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh
· Thursday is necessary to help
determine if, as -Los Angeles
Polic~ Chief Daryl Gates insists,
this action by a few
brutal cops is an aberration-
' or a symptom of a systemic
institutional problem.
The federal review comes on
the heels of the FBI's announced
high-priority probe
of the March 3 beating. Traffic-
violation suspect Rodney
_King was clubbed and kicked
by three officers while a dozen,
including a sergeant who
was supposed to keep things
from getting out of control,
watched without interceding.
Thornburgh's order is designed
to effect a comprehensive
review of all federal police
brutality complaints filed
within the past six years; an
average of 2,500 are filed annually.
The scrutiny· will cover
15,000 federal complaints, in­
~luding those that have been
dismissed.
That's good, but locally an
equally comprehensive·investigation
of complaints filed
against the LAPD must be
undertaken by the Los Angeles
Police Commission as part
of its probe of the savage
beating of King.
At the Police Commission's
first ·public hearing Thursday
on the shocking beating, hun-.
dreds of elected officials, civic
leaders and ordinary citizens
expressed their fury at the
bea.ting, which was captured
on video by an amateur cam-·
eraman and televised repeat-
·edly. ·
The commission does not
have full leeway in its power
over the· department and the
'police chie.f, of course, but its ·
members, appointed by the
mayor, are charged with. over.:
all oversight of the Police
Department. It is vital that
they do their job expeditiously,
fairly and professionally.
FBI - LOS ANGELES #
Police abuse of force in the
course of an arrest is ·not
.limited to Los Angeles, as
Thornburgh's order. rightly
suggests. That's one reason
why the attorney general also
ordered the Justice Pep.artment'S
research division to
examine the effectiveness of
police training and procedures
designed to deter misconduct.
How well are they working?
The attorney general's attention
is welcome because it
goes well beyond business as
usual in police brutality cases,
which, in the absence of videotape,
are typically difficult
to prove. Thornburgh's order
should help reassure black
.Americans who learned during
the civil rights movement to
depend on the federal government
for protection.
The Thornburgh investigation
is warranted and welcome.
But can it restore public.
confidence in the leadership of
the LAPD in the wake of a
police beating watched by the
world?
That's the sad-and hard..!-
question.
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FBI/ooJ