officers - The Black Vault

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FD-350 (Rev. 5-8-81)
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DAILY NEW'S
Date: FRI • , APRIL 5 , 19 91
Edition: Front Section, Page 1
Title:
GATES PUT ON LEAVE
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;Chief says he wi(l ~liallenKe
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Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
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Classification:
Submitting Office: 8 0-33 B
IDS M'GELES
Indexing:
SEARCHED'-'"_.,._
SERIAUZED. v:;:::r
APR 15 1991
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,~·:By Patrick McGreevy
said a majority of the City Counand
Rick Orlov
cil would support a move to
~.!pai!y News Staff Writer
,block the Police Commission
t: ·from defending its action in
~i The Los Angeles Police Com- court. .
~jmission put Police Chief Daryl The series of developments in
;;·F. Gates on paid leave Thursday the month-long controversy over
~~.for at least 60 days because of the videotaped beating of King
~·;••serious allegations of misman- threatened to thrust the city into
~ ~gem.ent" against him over the an unprecedented political crisis
beatmg of Rodney King by 'in which Mayor Tom Bradley
LAPD officers.
.and community groups demand­
• After an 80-minute meeting ing Gates' ouster are pitted
with the commission, a grim- against the chief and the City
. ·-faced Gates said he would chal- Council.
lenge the order in court, and The March 3 beating in Lake
. :C~u.nciln:tan Zev Yaroslavsky. View Terrace was caught on vid­
. . . - .~ eotape by-a bysta~der~and created
a national furor after it was
shown on television. It has led to
the indictment of four officers,
continuing investigations by locaf.
and federal authorities into possible
civil rights violations and the
:appointment of a citizens com­
I_llission to investigate the
LAPD's operations and struc-
1 ture. . ...
, . Attorneys for Gates satd they
•. will seek to prove that the furlough
was a result of .. political
. tamperi~g" in the civil service
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proeess by Bradley, members of
the Police Commission and
others. .
.. I feel that I have been .. dis-
. graced and defamed and I think
it's a tragedy. It will not heal the
wound~ of the city," Gates satg:
when he emerged from th·e
closed-door commission meeting
... 1 have no idea why this is
happening. I'm very controlled. I
always have been."
Yaroslavsky, who has long harbored
mayoral ambitions, rushed
,·.to Gates' defense for the first
. time and said the City Council
was preparec;l to use its author­
-ity to override the Police Com­
.,mission•s action.
· .. The Police Commission may
•have acted legally, but it certainly
wasn't properly," Yaroslavsky
said ... The charter is very dear.
. The City Council is the governing
body of this City and we can
·.decide whetlier to settle any legal
~.action.
If Chief Gates goes to
.court tomorrow, the council
..could decide to say,, 'We surrender.'"
1 Bradley, civil rights advocates
and others praised the decision,
,,with the mayor saying the paid
suspension will give the city a
i .. timeout" to heal itself in the
1 wake of public outrage over the
King beating .
.. It is my hope that today's Po­
. lice Commission action will give
~ time t.Q bridge the differences
,:that have grown between us since
~the Rodney King incident,"
Bradley said.
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