officers - The Black Vault

... .
,.,.., · by a witness on videotape, and
outrage over the incident grew
Monday following disclosures
that officers involved in the beat- .
·ing made racist remarks on a po-'
)ice communic;ations systems be-
~>forehand. ·,
' King, 25, is blac~, and the four
officers indicte~ in the case are
. white.
;· Gates has condemned the be~t-
• ing and says he will not resi~n
over the incident, which has re­
··sulted in a grand jury investiga-
·tion. ·
~ Bradley said from Hawaii that
·· he was particularly disturbed by
r .transcripts of the officers' rei'inarks.
.
. "The transcripts of those dis­
... cussions are disturbing - indeed
alarming," Bradley said. "It's
clear that the King incident was
i not an aberration. The racial.
~ .overtones are evidence of a bigger
problem in the department."
Bradley said the decision of
whether or not to resign was up
ito Gates. ·,. ·
' "I don't want to see this be­
:co1lle a Bradley-Gates b~ttle,"
. .
~.the mayor said. "This is a matter
, for the chief to decide. He has his
own constituency. .
. "But I am-thinking of appointing
an independent panel," Brad­
. ley said, referring to his plans to
. investigate racism in the LAPD.
~ "It has advantages and disaqvanr
tages. I'll decide that when I get
·back."
Brad~ey said appointment of
.:an independent panel would not
·:indicate that he lacks confidence
. in the Los Angeles Police Com­
= mission, which recently has lost
~two of its five members.
At a Los Angeles news confer-
1 ~nee, RobertSon said that Gates
~.had brought "shame and infamy"
and should step down for
,the good of the city. He also said
':.be was disappointed in the failiure
of the city's elected leaders to
••
take a stand on whether Gates
should remain in office.
· ~'I learned at an early age that
politicians should be leaders,"
Robertson said. "In the ·past 20
year~, I've seen politicians wet
their fingers, put them in the air
and see what the .public thinks.
What we need are leaders."
Gates has not change.d his
mind about ·resigning, a spokesman
said. · ·
"I do know· there's been no
change in his position on not re­
~igning," Lt. Fred Nixon said.
Robertson's comments drew a
cool reaction from City Council
members, some of whom noted
that under the City Charter the
· chief only can be removed by the
city Police Commission -;--.and
only for cause, such as gro~s mis­
.. c~mduct_ . .:-·.,...._-~·-, _.--..--
Councilman Mike Woo said
~··that calling for ''Gates to resign .
. ·'would raise false ·~xpectations,"; .
· given the ·council's lack of author-· ·
ity. .
·Councilwoman Joan Milke
Flores said she is not convinced
. the call for Gates'. resignation is
, .. as widespread ~ Robertson be-
-lieves. ! . ·
"l've had a number of calls·
from people, all of whom deplore
the incident, but don't think the
chief should be held responsible
fodt,"'Flores said.
• ; · 'Gates is scheduled to ·appear
r before the tCity Council today on
; a separate case involving allega­
~ tions of police brutality. ·Councilman
Nate Holden said he be­
. ljeves that might provide the
1
opportunity for council members
·to question Gates. .
r .. "He has g~t' to answer ·ques-
ṫt10ns about this," Holden·said .
Councilwom~n Joy Picu~ .in-
. traduced two proposals to reView .
' Jhe goals given Gates in his performance
reviews and to revive a
·Ch~rter amendment making it
. easter to fire .department heads.
. The measures were referred to
. Committee for study. ,· . · -
. .1~ ·sacramento, Brown .s~1id
that he believes the beating re~ ·
. 'fl~cts ~ pattern of ins!;':nsitivity to ·
: mmonttes by Los Angeles police
· officers. · . . .
,. ···1 believe that those officers
· 'Were carrying out a pattern of
conduct that has been tolerated
' -in that police 'system for a very
·· long time, that has not been, dealt
with as firmly and as sternly as it
, should have been dealt with," the
., speaker said at a Capitol news
conference. .. ·
·! Sen. Ed Da,vis, R~Northridge,
nwho was Los Angeles police chief
until 1978, defended both his
f successor and the 50-year-old eity
charter provision that gives civil
se,rvice protection to department
• directors. ··
' ··The worst thing would be to
,; 'leav~ now," Davis said. '~He'd
~ leave in disgrace."
t Sen. Alan .Robbins, :D-Van
1 Nuys, also defended the chief. ·
, . ..'From. my conversations with
::0~1 G~t~s through the years I
c beheve he Is much more sensitive
,·1han the Public perception creat-
1 ed over the last few weeks,'' Rob-
.bins said. ••And I don't think he}s
:getting a farr.rap/' ·
Sen. Gary Hart, on the other
:J~an:d, said Gates should go.
.. "I think he's become the is­
':sue," said Hart, D-Santa Bar­
"bara;
; · ·This story was written by J~aily
f