officers - The Black Vault

•
hiS ear and hand \
him because his r co"':
· tion was about to· ':l ,
: Baseball Hall-of-Fa ~"'~
Joe Morgan recently wott.,
a federal jury award of
$540,000 because an officer
mistook him for a drug
courier, roughed him up
and illegally detained him
at Los Angeles ·International
Airport. Similar
suits and settlements in-
.. volving police misconduct
cost the city more than $8
million last year alone.
· The Los Angeles County'
district attorney's office is investigating the
King incident to determine if the police officers
broke any laws. The FBI is investigating to
determine if a civil rightS violation took place.
-Did the supervisor at the scene order ,Qis men to
stop? Did other officers attempt to stop their
colleagues? What would have happened to
King's complaints of abuse if the incident .had
not been videotaped? ·
The frightening images, captured by amateur
cameraman George Holliday, are a grim re-·
minder of a time and place when . all black
people were fair game for white cops. That is
not the case today. The entire Los Angeles
Police Department should not be smeared by
the improper actions of the officers involved in
the beating. . · ·
But until the extent of the problem is
identified and the public is fully reassured that
this violation of poJicy will not happen again,
top Los Angeles Police Department management
must understand that a hot, bright
spotlight is now on them.