officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 {Rev. 5-8-81)
page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
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Who's policing
DAILY NEWS
Date: MON., MAR 18, 1991
Edition:
Front Section, Page 1
T~:
WHO'S POLICING THE POLIC:
-- .. -. --·-- _,___. ~~ -·-- - t
the police?
Commission~ role in molding LAPD
:cal~ed into question by beating
.By Patrick McGreevy
Daily News Staff Writer
With the beating of Rodney
Gl~n King putting the Los Angeles
Police Department under a
-harsh light, critics say the Police
Commission has not performed
its role under the City Charter to
direct department policy and the
actions of Police Chief Daryl F.
Gates.
Lacking independent staff, the
commission depends ~m Gates'
own subordinates for advice.
A review of the board's public
actions over the past year shows
that much of the commission's
time is spent issuing parade permits
and liquor licenses.
Moreover, critics say the commissioners
themselves have been
reluctant to take on the Police
.·Qepartment and its outspoken .
.-- ~
... -~--.-· ..
, chief.
· .. I do believe the Police Commission
should have been more
vigilant in their responsibility to
direct Chief Gates and mandate
standards for the· department to
meet," said Danny Bakewell,
president of the Brotherhood
. Crusade, a group that benefits
.· ethnic agencies and contributes
to anti-gang and anti-drug work.
••The_y haven't overseen much
- ~ ·-- •• - - ~ & - ---
of anything," agreed Thomas
Beck, an attorney wh has handled
many of the police brutality
cases against the city ... Technically,
(Gates) works for the commis-;_
sion bii"i, in fa~t, he contro ~
them," Beck said. · · ·
Los Angeles Mayor-Tom
ley has acknowledged th
·for change ~n the commi
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
or
Classiflcation:8 0-3 3B
!Subm~tting Office:
LOS ANGELES
MAR 2 2 1991
.appointing liberal activist Stanley
K. Sheinbaum to the board Friday,
.. and naming civil rights advocate
~'Melanie Lomax and longtime con- ·
fidante Dan Garcia to the board
· · late last year with the direction to
. question department policy. ·
·· But critics say more is needed
, - including allowing the board to
· fire the chief without the need for
1 proving misconduct, and granting
: the commission an independent
l staff and legal counsel. The· com­
' mission's staff is made up of Police'
···Department employees. · :
. Ram·ona Ripston, executive
director of the American Civil Liberties
Union, said an independent
staff will allow the public to exer-
1
: cise genuine civilian oversight _of
the department. ~
I
· Ripston said the commission has
had moments when it has shown its
~uthority for setting department
policy, such as,when it outlawed the
use of the choke-hold. · ·
I
I
"But more often it has been very,
: very weak," she said.
Civil rights advocates and black
-community leaders are now clam­
; · oririg for Gates' resignation in the
wake of the police beating of the
· !Jnarmed King following a traffic
.. stop. Because King, a black man,
was beaten by white officers, the incident
has also fueled C@ncerns
. abou~ racism in the police force.
· By law, the commission is the
-only body that can fire Gates. To
answer critics who charge that he
~s unaccountable to the public,
... Gates himself pointed out last week Fe 11
ooJ
th~t ~e answers to the Police Com- ~
miSSion. · IVAe-11 '- ~ _ .
t{Lift--lJ.\ • \ l "-1 '4 ~ "f-"• !) .. f' .