officers - The Black Vault

•
Since he became Los Angeles' 49th police chief in 1978, Daryl F.
Gates has made a number of controversial statements that have
offended, in varying degrees, blacks, Jews, Latinos, women, casual
drug users and even the State Department.
• 1978: He had been in office barely one month when he remarked
to a Latino audience that some Latino officers were not promoted
within the LAPD because they were "lazy." Gates said that he was
only trying to· encourage Latino officers to work harder and attain
leadership positions.
• 1979: Gates casually commented at a news conference in England
that if President Jimmy Carter could not rescue the 52 American
captives in Iran, Gates could by sending in his SWAT squad. A short
time later, "the State Department. called and said, 'Chief, we'd
appreciate it if you'd mind your own business,' "according to Gates.
The chief said he was only.try~ng to be witty. . . · ·
• 1980: At a closed dinner meeting of deputy district attorneys,
Gates called KABC-TVanchorwoman Christine Lund "an Aryan
broad." Gates later apologized, saying the comment was meant "in
jest" and was "in the spirit of a raucous evening." ·
• 1982: Gates angered many Jews by releasing an in-house report
that suggested that the Soviet Union was sending criminals
disguised as Jewish immigrants to Los Angeles to disrupt the 1984
Olympics. Gates went out of his way to make peace with Jewish
leaders, saying that the report was purely speculative and that he
had never expected the media to publicize it.
In an interview, Gates said he had instructed his staff to .
investigate "a hunch" he had about why so many blacks die from
police use of the carotid chokehold, which cuts off the blood supply
to the brain. "We may be finding that in some blacks when it.[the
carotid chokehold] is applied, the veins or arteries do not open tip as
fast as they do on normal people." The remark, Gates said, was no
more than a careless choice of words. ·
• 1984: The City Council approved a ballot measure that would
increase the city's power to discipline and fire department heads,
such as Gates. Then the chief alleged that this would permit undue
political influence by council members on the police and the rest of
the city departments. Then in a statement that angered some council
members, Gates said he was going to "rummage around in my mind"
to cite examples of how council members ask the police to do "all
kinds of things that are inappropriate."
• 1988: In an interview, Gates conceded that he is more "patient
and sensitive" in his dealings with people. But, he added, "I can still
be an arrogant bastard. I've grown harder and softer."
• 1989: In a videotaped message to LAPD officers, Gates used the
term "pantywaists" to describe officers who opposed his Halloween
deployment plan that was intended to prevent a recurrence of the
near-riot that occurred in Hollywood the previous year.
• 1990: At a Senate Judiciary Co~ttee hearing on the first
anniversary of the Bush Administration's war on drugs, Gates said
"casual drug users ought to be taken out and shot." His statement
was aimed at those "who blast some pot on a ·casual basis and the
damned hypocrites who go out and party on the weekends and snort
cocaine."
Gates said Mayor Tom Bradley ·had written a "dumb letter" calling
for an investigation of possible police improprieties in the defense of
four officers charged with vandalism during a !1rug raid two years
ago near 39tq Street and Dalton Ave.
• 1991: In an angry statement aft~r the shooting of rookie
policewoman Tina Kerbrat, Gates referred to Kerbrat's killer as "an
El Salvadoran drunk-a drunk who doesn't belong here."
In response to an outpouring of anger from Los Ang~les residents
over the videotape that captures LAPD officers repeatedly striking
defenseless Rodney G. King, Gates offered an apology to King, but
further enraged people when he added that he would apologize "in
spite of the fact that [King's) on parole and a convicted robber."
Compiled by T1mes editorial researchel Cecilia Rasmussen.
/