officers - The Black Vault

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LOS ANGELES TIMES
Date: SUN, MAR 31, 1991
Letters to T.he Times
Edition: OPINION SECTION, PAGE 4
FrirorOver
Police Beating .
• One of the most spineless public bodies in
our· area has to be members of the Los
Angeles City Council, particularly for their
reaction or non-reaction to police br'utality
and racism.
They certainly had to know that this
situation existed because they had to
approve payments to persons who had
sued the Police Department.
You would think they would inquire
more from Chief Daryl Gates every time
they had to pay. millions of dollars of
taxpayers' money, but they rarely did.
I do know that the black and Latino
communities are sick and tired of all this
and they await quick answers from top city
authorities starting with Mayor Tom Bradley
and the backboneless.City Council.
JOHN F. MENDEZ.
Los Angeles
• An example of biased reporting at its
worst! The headline on your front-page
· article (March 22) .says "31% of Angelenos
. Say Gates Should Quit Now."
As the old song goes, why not "accentuate
the positive." If 31% favor quitting,
then 69%' must favor Gates not quitting. ·
CHARLES P. ARGANA
La Crescenta
• This letter is in respons'e to the full- page
ad ta!{en out in your paper by the American
Civil Liberties Union headlined "Who
Do You Call When The Gang Wears Blue
Uniforms?" (March 12). The ad calls for
the resignation of Gates and asks . for:
money and support to assist its crusade.
To gain attention and raise public sentiment
in favor of its cause,· the ACLU
parallels all "blue uniforms" to a gang.
This insinuation was both distasteful and
insensitive to the men and women in blue
uniforms. Most of these officers, who 1
proudly wear their uniforms, give great
· effort d_ay after day to stop the gang
violence the ACLU has equated them with.
The ACLU noted the millions of dollars
given to victims of police violence last year
by the city. However, the ACLU ·failed to
mention the millions spent on police offi- '
cers who were hurt, disabled or killed as a
result of violents acts. Where was the
ACLU then to protect their liberties?
. I was just as shocked as the rest of the
worla and am outraged at what those
officers did on the night of March 3rd.
Police officers are drawn from sqciety and
like everyone are capable of any behavior.
When that behavior crosses the line, the
LAPD has ihe strictest "use of force"
policy in the nation to curtail brutality.
Obviously, this incident points out a
major problem that needs to be and will be
addressed. However, the· fact still remains
that Los Angeles police have an outstanding
r.ecord. . ·
The American ·Civil ·Liberties Union
owes everyone who wears the blue uniform
an apology. A blanket smear on an
entire department in order to discredit one
man (Gates) leaves .l:lle.to wonder, who do
·you call when the gang is the ACLU?
ROBERT J. NUCKLES
Los Angeles
T~:LETTERS TO THE TIMES
TUROR OVER POLICE BEATING
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
C~ication: 80-33B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
.·• We wish to commend The Times for the
.editorials and articles that have helped to
illuminate the complex and sensitive issues
affecting the LAPD. ·
As members of ·organized labor, as
activists of minority. group organizations,
as long-time civil rights advocates and as
citizens we have had frequent occasion to.
observe and have direct contact with the
police ofthe city of Los Angeles.
With so many policemen inv.olved -in or
·present at the yiolent and revolting beating
of Rodney King, it is difficult to escape •
the impreS'sion that they were a fairly
representative cross-section of at least a
.segment of the department. This is indeed
disturbing! Nothing can lead to dissolution
of civil order more quickly than lawbreaking
under color of police authority .
SEARCHED INDEXED·---1
SERIAUlED•--__.. flLED•----1
APR 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES j
VYt:J.
We believe the department must be
suffused by a sense of the inviolability of
the rights of every citizen. The individual
policeman must be imbued with an appreciation
of human rights and must cultivate
a sensitivity for cultural, ethnic, racial and
_gender differences and diversity.
Achieving this is a responsibility of the
department's leadership, and first of all of
the chief. Gates has fallen short in this role
and should step down.
.KENT WONG, Chairman
Alliance qf Asian Pacific Labor
ALEX SWEETEN, President
A. Philip Randolph Institute
AL HERNANDEZ, President
Labor Council for Latin American
Advancement
MAX MONT, Regional Director
Jewish Labor Committee
Los Angeles
We deeply respect the individual who
enters t~e police _force out of dedication to
commuQ.!tY servtce, and we know that
most pol!ce officers are honest.
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