officers - The Black Vault

FD 350 (Rev. 5-8·81)
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Gates' critics
asSail chiefs ·
reform plan
DAILY NEWS
Edition: FRI., MAR 29, 1991
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 1
Trtle: GATES' CRITICS ASSAIL
CHIEF'S REFORM PLAN
Character:
or
Classification: 8 0-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
SEARCHED
SERIAUZEO
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By Patrick McGreevy
Daily News Staff Writers
City officials and civil rights
advocates critical of Police Chief
Daryl F. Gates attacked his pro-­
posal Thursday for a citizens
commission and other measures
to restore confidence in the
LAPD.
City Councilman Mike Woo
and six civil righ.ts leaders said
the commission - proposed· in
the wake of the police beating of
Rodney King would answer to
·Gates, and thus not be account­
;able to the public.
Related story:
• Man who videotaped beating wants
to sell his life story. Back Page
, "Chief Gates is right. The healing
must begin," said'Woo, who
Wednesday became the first
council member to demand that
i Gates resign. •·
"But it can't begin with a commission
that is dependent on the
LAPD," he said. "A commission
which is appointed by the chief
... is not directly accountable to
the public. It's a commission that
, will have divided loyalties."
Gates released a statement defending
the commission, which
would be headed by fmmer state
Supreme Court Justice John Ar-:
guelles. . · · ·
"This panel is. totally independent
and its integrity is beyond
reproach," he said.
"Justice Arguelles has stated
that ·his loyalty is to the community
and his goal is to make whatever
recommendations are neces­
·sary to ensure that the city of Los
Angeles is provided with the very
best police service possible."
APR t5 1991
FBI - LOS ANGELES ~
,I ·Appointment of the commission
is part of Gates' 10-point
plan to restore confidence iii the
Los Angeles Police Department
following the videotaped beating
of King on March 3 in Lake View
Terrace.
Four qfficers charged with assaulting
King were ordered
Thursday to appear for trial on
May 13, and the Los Angeles
County grand jury resumed" hearings
into the conduct of 17 other
officers who were at the scene of
King's beating.
In a separate development on
Thursday, the California Attorney
General's Office began a "top
priority" investigation of King as
a suspect in an armed robbery
.that occurred 10 days before his
beating at the hands of police.
"We hope to complete it as
soon as possible," said Dave
Genens, special agent in charge
of the Attorney General's Los
· Angeles investigations bureau.
"We're going to start from
: scratch and do our own independent
investigation," Genens said.
"We won't be consulting with the
. Los Angeles Police Department,
(but) we will be gathering information
from them."
To avoid the appearance of a
conflict of interest, local police
· and prosecutors asked the attor~
,. ney general to investigate a Sun
Valley robbery in which King's
name "surfaced as a suspect,"
LAPD Cmdr. Rick Dinse said.
King's attorney, Steven Lerman,
said Thursday that King
·:'ab~ol~~ly ~id not" participate
FBI/DOJ