officers - The Black Vault

FD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
_For Chief Daryl Gates,
he Moment Has Comt THE
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Editi~n: TUES . MAR 19 , 19 91
METRO SECTION, Page 6
. • • . ~~~ 11t1e: FOR CHIEF DARYL GATES,
MOMENT HAS cmm
. . · ' Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
or
The Los Angeles Police Department
deserves respect and sup­
sayfng things that he shouldn't, and Submitting Office:
marked by a history, of the chief Classification: 80-3 3 B
port. It has fought hard against by some officers sometimes doing . LOS ANGELES
internal corruption, served as a virtu­ things that'they shouldn't.
·allaboratory for testing many policing
innovations and struggled, often one with a television set, is unaccept-
· .The King beating, seen by every­
Indexing:
courageously, against an increasing . able no matter what the race of the
crime rate even though it has fewer citizen-victim. It raises questions
: officers per population density than about command and control, about
. most other major departments. It is a training, about the street-level values
of officers. But the fact that the
MAR 2 2 1991
. _proud force that takes its job serious­
·Iy. Under Chief Daryl F. Gates for the · victim was black and that the beating
past 13 years, it has initiated improvements
in urban policing that of all walks of life, including black
happened in a city where minorities
have been widely praised and in some businessmen and athletes, have complained
for years of police harassment as innocuous as he thinks they were,
the polarizing remarks by the chief,
cases emulated by other police departments
around the country. a,dds measurably to the pain. . were made about blacks and Latinos
Today, alas, that reputation for Because the King case is a symptom
of a larger problem, larger ques­
about the people :who have been in
and women, not white men-not
excellence may have sunk to a low
because of the Rodney King-police tions must be raised. The problem is power but the peopl.e, until very
beating case. It may be a very long that the department is in danger of recently at least, who have been out
time before the LAPD lives down losing support from signifi(lant sections
of Los Angeles and the trend ness by this top cop is worrisome.
.of power. Such political tone:deaf­
that videotape ·monument to police
brutality. The shocking sight of officers
either kicking and clubbing an "They hate us and clearly they hate his 13-year tenure police misconduct
.must not be permitted to .accelerate. Worse still is the fact that during
.unarmed man or s;tanding around and me," Gates said of his critics, to an complaints against the LAPD increased
perceptibly, and the city has
watching the assault has brought to a applauding crowd of police officers
~ head long-held reservations about last week as he sought to rally paid many miJlions in police miscon:.
; the department. And Monday's rev­ support for his continued incumbency.
It's true that there .are a small And now all the fury that is focused
duct settlements and judgments.
, elations of racially disparaging comments
on police tapes prior to th~ number of Angelenos who do hate on the King case hampers the ability
· beating only add to those concerns. cops. But the large majo!1ty. of lawabiding
citi.zens · of this town are properly· because trust in the police
of the good cops to do their jobs
'. THE GENERAL PROBLEM: Now
.. there are calls for the resignation of deeply sincere in their criticisms and , has fallen. The current atmosphere is
· Gates-a 42-year.LAPD veteran. Be- are looking for positive reform. Gates' harmful to public safety.
. cause the chief is the boss, Gates "us-against-them" statement is .unintentionally
revealing and illustrates lieves that stepping down under the
CONCLUSION: Daryl Gates be­
himself is now the target of much of
•. the built-up enmity for the department,
much of the criticism and the There should be no "them," there dangerous precedent and would de­
the flaw at the heart of his command. current circumstances would .be . a
doubt. Entirely fair or not, his exit is should be only one Los Angeles with moralize his ·department. But after
regarded by many as a precondition one police chief concerned with all giving 42' years of his life to !l P,Olice
for healing and for progress. · the people ofthis city.
force and job that he loves, the chief
- That won't be easy to accomplish. THE PERVASIVE WORRY: This must reflect on the wisdom of staying
Gates· is protected by intricate and ~ity has changed a great deal since on much longer.
daunting layers of civil service law: Gates joined the department in 1949. If he is a true patriot of the city and
He cannot simply be fir~d, and he is More African-Americans, Latinos, a true believer in the LAPD, he must
insisting that he'll not go. But the Asians and women assert their rights not let his pride and his ego cloud his
·issue here is not what's best for Gates and demand to be heard. Even so, the judgment. He should submit to the
: but what's best for Los Angeles. The chief of 13 years proceeds apace with ·suggestions and recommendations of
' ·question is not whether he can stay a public image of insensitivity. Those those .in this .city wh9 have come to
on, but whether he should.
who know Gates well insist that he is the conclusion that for the good of
.. If the King case were an aberration, .a caring man, but his public persona· Los Angeles he should resign. He
there would be fewer calls for his ,comes across more often than not .as should not simply walk out, of course,
.,resignation. But this horror occurred something else entirely.
but step down. in an orderly fashion to
'~n a watch that for 13 years has been What. must be faced is that all .of insure a smooth transition to a new
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