officers - The Black Vault

F0-360 (Rev. 5-8-81)
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•(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
{Mount Clipping in Space Below)
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Date:
Edition: 'V1ED. APRIL 3 , 1991
Front Section, Page 10
Mayor Tom Bradley's statements on the March 3 beating of Rodney
~ing and whether Police Chief DarylF .. Gates should resign:
• MARCH 5: After viewing an amateur videotape showing white
police officers beating a black suspect as he lay on the ground: "I am
as shocked and outraged as anyone. This is something we ca~n.o.t and
will not tolerate. • • • Appropriate action will be taken by the~{PoliCe]
Department and the Police Commission." , .
• MARCH 6: While Gates calls the beating an aberration, Bradley
says it points to a breakdown in leadership that begins with the
chief: "The supervision does, in fact, flow from the top oj'the
department down-through his orders and instructions, through his
training. . . . We want to see where there was a breakdown, a
departure from established orders.''
• MARCH 12: Bradley proposes that the chief and department
managers be subject to a performance review and possible dismissal
· · every five years, but insists he is not .
trying to pressur!'l Gates to step down:
"I get letters from all over ~he country
from people saying that I should fire ·
Daryl Gates, but they don't understand
that it can't be done. The [City] Charter
dOesn't permit it."
• MARCH 18: While in Hawaii on a
business trip, Bradley comments on
racial slurs contained in police radio
and computer communications:" It is
no longer possible for any objective
person to regard the King beating as an
aberration. We must face the fact that
Mayor Bradley
there appears to be a dangerous trend of
racially motivated incidents running
through at least some segments of our Police Department.''
• MARCH 19: In an interview broadcast by KCAL Channel·9, .
Bradley says the beating of King and its aftermath have caused the
Police Department's reputation to suffer "grievous" injuries:" It
would help • . . in the healing process if the chief wo~ retire.'' -
• MARCH 20: Upon his return from Hawaii, Bra~ley tells reporters ~
at LAX the only way for the department to recover is for Gates" to
remove. himself from the center of the [storm].'' '
• MARCH 21: At Banning High School in Wilmington, Bradley ·
responds to the question of whether Gates sho,uld resign:" Only he
has. the authority and ability to say, ~I retire.' No requests are going to
make any difference until the chief recognize~~hat he, by staying on,
may be damaging the department.'' .
• APRIL 2: Bradley meets privately with Gates and later announces:
"I called upon Mr. Gates to resign as chief of police.''
Compiled by Times editorial researcher Cecilia Rasmussen
n~:BRADLEY'S
Character:
or
Classification:
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3 B
SUbmitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
In de xing:
SEARCHED
SERIALIZED~
CHANGE OF VIEW
_ INDEXED
_ fiLED
APR 1 0 1991
FBI LOS ANGELES ~
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