officers - The Black Vault

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FD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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1 (lh1:Jica.te page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Chief Gates Should
Quit, Sen. Biden Sayf
By PAUL HOUSTON
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON -Senate Judiciary Committee Chair~:
man Joseph R. Biden Jr., who lavished praise on Los'
Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates at a hearing last year,:
called Sunday for his resignation because.of the videotaped:
beating of a motorist by LAPD officers. ·
"I think the guy.spould go," the Delaware Democrat said:
on the NBC program "Meet the Press." Biden appeared:
with Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, who declined to voice an:
opinion. ::
·~1 think it would be somewhat officious of me to be.
· giving passing or failing grades to local officials," Thor!l<
burghs~id.
At the hearing last year, Biden
commended Gates for his ·
DARE anti-drug program,
which has been widely copied
by other police agencies. In
testimony at the time, Gates said
that even casual drug users
should be shot-a remark that
caused wide controversy.
Separately, the Dallas Morning
News on Sunday reported
that Texas had 2,015 investigations
of alleged police brutality
between 1984 and 1989, followed
by California with 1,294 investigations.
Joseph ~· Biden Jr. :::
The newspaper cited figures ~
from records obtained from the U.S. Justice Department:
under the Freedom of Information Act. ~ -
. The records did not include the
number .of convictions resulting
from these investigations.
The newspaper also reported
.that Texas led the nation in prose-.
cut~ng 50 civil rights cases against
police between 1~80 and 1989,
accounting for 19.2% of the nation~
wide total. :
On "Meet the Press," Thornburgh
was asked whether a federal
civil rights investigation is likely to
·produce additional charges against
the four'Los Angeles police officers
who have been indicted by a county
grand jury in the March 3
'beating of Rodney G. King, 25, of
Altadena. The incident in Lake
View Terrace was videotaped by
an amateur photographer and sub­
·sequently broadcast worldwide.
· 'The attorney general said that
"the outcome of an investigation is
difficult to predict at the time that
it's undertaken." He added, however,
that "there isn't a single
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Da!:: ~·:10N l\lAR 18 , 19 91
Edition: METRO SECTION, PAGE 1
CHIEF GATES SHOULD QUIT,
SEN. BIDEN SAYS
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
Of
Classlfteation:8 0-3 3B
SUbmitting Office:
. LOS ANGELES
MAR 2 6 1991
responsible law enforcement official
in this country who condones
police brutality." · ·
Thornburgh also was asked if he
thought the federal government
should take action against the policemen
who witnessed the beating
but did nothing to stop it. ·
"Well, that's an iffy question and
it's very risky to anticipate. what
the results of. the investigation
might be," he said. "We've .got to
look to the rights of potential
defendants, and I really can't ~om-·
menton that."
In response to the same question,
Biden at first said: "I can't rp.ake
apy judgment on that." But a
moment later he declared: '"I don't
know how in the devil they aren't
responsible for standing by and
watching this th~ng take place. I
don't know how they can step
away from any responsibility."
The senator said his committee
plans a hearing on the incident
after completion of the attorney
general's investigation into whether
the civil rights of King, a black
FBI/ooJ
· man, were violated by the officers, ')\ ?.\
who are whit~~A~ lA ... :ogq6lt-v_,JJ ~