officers - The Black Vault

~·
•
·The Los Angeles Times Poll asked 916 ·
. adults in the city of LA. to· rate Mayor
. Tom Bradley, Police Chief Daryl · •
·Gates !=!nd-~he LAPD on the job.they
· aredomg: ...
·March 8 March·2~·- \.April4 .. ~
70%·r----.:..,_,--:__:_~__;_-'---!j I
Bradley
60r--;;;;;;;;;,;;~~::::1
store confidence in the Police Department,
or if they believe Gates,
who says he must stay to provide
leadership to his officers.
On that question, 57% of Anglos
said they agreed more with Gates,
while 32% agreed with Bradley.
Among African-Americans, 65%
sided with Bradley, while 11%
suppqrted Gates. Among Latinos,
61% sided with Bradley, while
31% agreed with Gates.
Poll results divided along ·racial
lines as well on the question of
whether Bradley or Gates is the
more ethical and honest. Among
Anglos, two in five said Gates is
more honest, compared to one in
five for -Bradley. The remainder
said neither or WElre unsure. .
Among African-Americans,
nearly half-49%-said Bradley is
more ethical and honest, while
10% backed Gates. Nearly half of
all Latinos said J?radley is more
honest, while one in five said Gates
has a better record for honesty.
This week's survey found that
Gates' overall job approval ratings-which
have b~en low in the
wake of the beating-increased
very slightly. Overall approval for
Bradley-which has remained relatively
high-took a slight dip. · ·
According to the poll, 35% of all
·Los Angeles residents approve of
the way Gates is handling his job,
1 up from 31% two weeks ago and
33% four weeks ago, just after the
King beating occurred.
The mayor had a 53% approval
rating, down from 57% two weeks
ago and 61%. four weeks ago.
If the two men were· running
against one another for mayor
today, the poll showed that Bradley
would come out ahead in all
three racial groups, and would win
the election with 51% of the vote,
compared to 18% for .Gates. Twen-
•
ty percent of all respondents said
they would ~ot vote for either mari.
As for city leaders· generally,
the poll showed that residents
are .split over whether they are
doing any good in the wake of the
King 'beating. .Only one in four
believe that the city's leaders have
made the atmosphere in Los An- .
gele~ better, while one in three
believe th~y have been d~trimental
· and the rest think ~heir actions_,
have been irrelevant. . .
While more than half of all
residents still believe the ..correct
amount of attention, i~ being paid to
the King beating, the poll found
that nearly two in five respondents
think the · case is receiving too
much attention. That is a noticeable
increase from two weeks ago;
when one-quaTter of aU residents
said too much attention was being
paid.
The survey also found an increase-from
5% to 17%__:in those
· who think the mayor is being too
tough on the. Police Department,
although they are outnumbered 3
to 1 by those who think the mayor
is doing what he should.
· In addition, the poll ·round that
Bradley's call· for Gates to resign
had little effect ori what people
think should happen to the chief,
with two-thirds ·of all respondents
saying Bradley's ·announcement
did not change their opinion.
The remainder of those polled
·were split almos.t evenly, with 14%
saying Bradley's statement made
them more like~y to fayor Gates'
resignation, and 16% saying it
made them less likely to favor the
chief's departure. ·
. While the poll found tha~ the
public has limited-faith in the city's
political leadership, it did show
. confidence 'in the criminal justice
system. Asked whether justice will
be done in the case involving King
.and the police, a majority of respondents-three
out of five-be-
. lieved that it would. .
In addition, most of those surveyed
believ~d that commissions
appointed by Bradley and Gates to
investigate the King beating would
be effective in improving the performance
of the Police Department,
with 64% believing that the
mayor's commission would beeffective
and 54% believing that the
chief's commission would'be effec­
'tive. Those panels have since .decided
to merge.