officers - The Black Vault

·:'
•
•
l!ointment, [a] tremendous disappointment"
that never should have
'til:lppened.
While declining to release names
,af. any of the 15 officers at the
sc:ene when King was beaten
-~?tes directed much of his anger at
, a-. sergeant whose responsibility,
Iinder Police Department guide­
~nes, was to ensure that the emo­
~pn and adrenaline of the officers
Jalvolved in the car chase did not
~d to violence. ·
""We've put into our . • . proce­
~ures-and we have over and over
~ressed it-that we want a· superi~r
at the end of these pursuits to
g~event this kind of thing from
mappening," Gates said. "That su­
~~rvisor was there .... Unfortu­
.nately, we had a total human
~ilure on the part of that sergeant
~nd many other officers who
~ould have interceded." ·
c:Gates said the failure to interfene
was a "cowardly" course
~ken by every officer present and
_!_?wed
l
to ~ke every possible step
rrevent lt from occurring again.
·I preach-1 mean I really
reach-to every single person
who graduates from the Police
Academy about the law and their
*ed for a reverence of the law "
he said. "What they should ha~e
qone, if they really loved their
brother officers ... [was to] have
stepped in and grabbed them and
l}auled them back and said 'Knock
i~ off!' That's what the ~ergeant
~hould have done [andj that's what
every officer there should have
done."
i At times during the hour-long
press conference, questions were
Shouted all at once. Tempers flared
when the Rev. Heber Jentzsch,
president of the Church of Scientology
International, asked about the
~olice Department's alleged role in
1 tpfiltrating citizen watchdog
groups after the Eulia Love shooting.
Jentzsch described himself as "You're a liar," the Scientology
rveseen."
· $Omeone who had clos~ly followed official retorted.
· the Love shooting as part of a "You're a liar!"
·ministers group called The Gather­ ''You're a liar!" .
, ing and later noted that he had Apparently unaware ·of the exchange,
Gates was ¥ked to com­
clashed previously with Gates over
·· :the issue.
m.ent on City Councilman Nate
"How will we be assured [in this Holden's proposal for additional
. case) that the same situation will training and psychological testing
r not {occur]?" Jentzsch demanded of new officers.
· ·ofGates. .
"Once again, this is. a model
Gates, staring at the floor in department," Gates insisted. "Everybody's
clamoring and Saying,
obvious annoyance, answered:
"WeU, much has gone under the 'We ought to do this, we ought to
. bridge. Any other questions?". do that.' People across the nation in
As the press conference continued,
~ •angry Deputy Chief Wil­ do. We have psychological exami­
law enforcement follow what we
. liam Booth approached Jentzsch nations. , .• We have a month of
"· off to the side of the room, c'ballenging
his assertions about police period of training on the use of
cultural training . . . [and] a long
spying.
force.
"You're really a liar," Booth ''This [incident] is an aberration,"
Gates added. "This is some~
whispered.
"I'm not a liar," Jentzsch replied. thing that should never have hap-
"Yes, you a,re-the biggest one ·. pened." . . .. -·.-
JOE KENNEDY I Los Angeles Times
Police Chief Daryl F. Gates talks about beating incident ·at
• tough news conference with more than 70 journalists.