officers - The Black Vault

FD·350 (Rev. 5·6·81)
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newspaper, city and state.)
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Police Documents
Disclose Beating
Was Downpl~yed
• Investigation: Highway Patrol officers say they were
'shocked'. at the level of violence used by police. Reports
: studied by grand jury add ~~etail to the King incident
By RICHARD A. SERRANO, TIMES STAFF WRiTER
Unaware that they had been videotaped, Los Angeles police officers and
·supervisors downplayed the level of violence used to arrest Rodney G.
King by claiming that he suffered only .cuts and bruises "of a minor
'1lature," according to jnternal police documents reviewed by The Times. '
In contrast, three California
Highway Patrol officers who/
"'
·watched how the police officers ·•Sgt. Stacey Koon, the lead
~ttacked King were so "shocked" Police Department supervisor at
at the brutality that they took note ,·the scene, reported that although
of the officers' name tags.
·~1 didn't see any need to hit him ··the· officers repeatedly struck
with a baton," CHP Officer Melanie King, the man's injuries appeared
S . 1 t t ld · t' t to be light. ..
mger a er o mves Iga ors.
. In his daily report, f_iled before
These conflicting accounts of the
March 3 incident in Lake View ·his shift ended that day, he-wrote: "'Several
Terrace are contained in hundreds facial' cuts due to con~ct with asphalt. Of a
of pages of confidential pqlice re- minor nature. A split inner lip. Suspect
-ports, witness interviews and other oblivious to pain."
.official materials collected by in- Koon also stated that the officers "deliv-
. vestigators and studied by the Los ered a torrent of power strokes, jabs, etc.,
Angeles County grand jury, which to arms, torso and-legs.· ... Taser [a police
.indicted a sergeant and three offi- stun gun] going the entire time. Finally
cers last week. , wore suspect down." ,
The documents lend substantial •In Use of Force reports submitted by·
new detail ~o the early morning Koon and Officers Laurence M. Powell and
arrest that prompted allegations Timothy Wind, they listep King's ·injuries
that the beating fits a pattern of as only "contusions and abrasions."
abuse by Los Angeles police offi- They ~lso marked boxes on the Use of
.cers and has spurred calls for the Force reports stating that King "attacked
. resignation of Chief Daryl F. Gates. officers," "continued some resistance" and
Central to the case against the "increased [his] resistance." ·
officers is an amateur videotape of In fact, the videotape shows that King is
the beating that has been telecast often in a qefenseless po,sition as the
nationwide. ·Contrary to what po- officers circled and hit him repeatedly.
lice officers initially reported about •Although Koon has been sharply criti-
King's arrest, the 25-year-old pa- cized for allowing the beating to get out of.
rolee from Altadena was struck up hand, CHP Off.icer Singer told investiga- .
\·.to 56 times. His doctor says he tors that one Los Angeles police officer
suffered a dozen broken ,bones.
grabbed Powell's arm to stop him after the
:The Times, which gained access first few blows were struck. She said Koon
:to the grand jury records, found: yelled at Powell: '!Stop! Stop! That's
enough!" The beating momentarily ceased,
but then resumed. •
•On the day after the arrest, ·sgt. Steven
Flores of the Foothill Division was con-
LOS ANGELES TD1ES
Editi~n: WED. MAR 20 1 1991
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 1
Title:
POLICE DOCUMENTS DISCLOS:
BEATING WAS DOWNPLAYED
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
Indexing:
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3 B
~SE~AR~C~HE~D------~l~ND~EX~EO~----~
SERIALIZED fiLED·----1
MAR 2 i' 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES I
I /111
-tacted by Paul King, who said he wanted to
file a brutality complaint on belialf of his
brother, Rodney.
Flores, in. a report about his conversation
with Paul King, said King told him there
might be a videotape of the arrest, and that
the tape would back up his ·contention of
police abuse.
Flores told Paul King that if he found the .
tape, "call us back and release it to the
"LAPD."
The sergeant then wrote: "According to
the reports, physical force was used in
arresting [Rodney) King, but the force was
justified. Nq further action is recommended
~ntil the results of the use of force investigation
are reviewed and evaluated, and
unless additional evidence, such as a videotape
or witness statement, is obtained."
,· His report also notes that nowhere in the
police reports of field interviews, watch
commander's log or sergeant's log is there
any mention that King had two friends
with him in the car when they were
stopped for speeding.
·-•Higher up the chain of command, a
lieutenant also backed the conclusions that
only a small amount of force was used to
. subdue King. Lt. P.J. Conmay, who was
Foothill watch commander on March ,3,
wrote that when Koon's Taser gun failed to
faze King, "he was ultimately subdued
after several baton strikes."
I
n reviewing these reports, the grand jury
decided to indict Koon, Powell, Wind and
Officer Ted Briseno on charges of assault
with a deadly weapon and unnecessarily
beating a suspect under color of authority.
Koon and Powell were also charged with
filipg a f