officers - The Black Vault

F0·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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Date: LOS ANGELES TIJ.\1ES
Edition: FRI • !-1AR 2 9 , 19 91
~£TRO SECTION, PAGE 6
Trt!e:THE DANGER OF DUCK-AND-RU:K
LEADERS
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
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Classiftcation:
Submitting Office: 80-33B
LOS ANGELES
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SEARCHED
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INDEXED
fiLED
APR 13 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES I
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The Danger of Duck -and-Run Leaders
The Rodney King beating has
brought to the surface ugly problems
in Los Angeles: not only the allegations
of police brutality, but the now
exposed factionalism among races and
ethnic groups and the tensions between
longtime city powers "who fear
too much change and new -line city
powers who fear too little.
With the political winds full of
volatile elements, the easiest, safestand
the most timid-response for an
elected official is to do nothing. That's
why Los Angeles City Councilman
Michael Woo deserves credit for taking
an unequivocal stand in calling
for the resignation of Los Angeles
Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Woo
believes, as do many other responsi~
ble people, that the chief, "by pitting
his personal supporters against his
critics . . . has placed himself at the
center of a fight which threatens to
tear this city apart."
Given the crisis of public confi:-
dence in the Police Department, the
national shame the beating brought
upon the entire city and the controversy
the chief has brought upon
himself during his tenure, Woo's
stand shouldn't be courageous. But it
is, compared to some council mem­
·bers, who can't seem to decide, after
three weeks. of exhaustive public
discussion, whether they support
Gates' indefinite continuation as police
·chief. "Let's wait and see." "It's
not really the council's job," some
members have said. "We don't want
to just add rhetoric." Really? Funny,
that's never stopped council members
from jumping into U.S. foreign policy,
rhetorical guns blazing. ·
Some city officials simply are afrai.d
to take a stand on the city's biggest
. controversy in recent history. Council
members Joel Wachs,.Ruth Galan­
. ter, Robert Farrell and Nate Holden
say they have no position whatsoever
on Chief Gates' tenure. Mayor Tom
Bradley, although he's more than
hinted that he wants Gates out, has
been no model of clarity on this issue,
either. And clarity is what's heeded, ..
whether the position is in favor of or '
against Gates as police chief.
Absent political' leadership to give
voice and positively channel public
frustration-which is particularly
strong among African-Americansothers
step in to fill the gap. Enter Al
Sharpton, ·the New York preacheractivist
who has a proven knack for
showing up in racially tense situations
and making them more so. He
describes himself as a "loose cannon;"
· a point on which we agree.
Sharpton is just what Los Angeles
doesn't need. But when you've got a
town full of duck-and-run politicians,·
it invites others to take up the
leadership mantle. And when that
happens some people will follow-no
matter, unfortunately, where they
-are being led. ·