officers - The Black Vault

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'Word on Removal Spreads
Q!J-ickly in South-CeptrC;tl L.A ,.. QU~:~LY
LOS ANGELES TD!ES
08 !~: FRI APRIL 5 , 19 91
Edttton~RONT SECTION, PAGE 22
-· . . · \'VORD ON RE~10VAL SPREADS
I. Reaction: Many in
~ommunity approve of
commission action. Others
voice sympathy for
~mbattled police chief.
·,
By CHARISSEJONES
AND JOHN MITCHELL
~'U.IES STAFF WRITERS
• Elnora Cole was going door to
door, gathering signatures to re­
~ove Police Chief Daryl F. Gates
from office, when she learned the
chief had been put on a leave of
absence.
' ~'You have got to be kidding, I
can't believe it," said Cole, a 71-
year-old retired nurse. "This will
make the city a better place. It will
restore confidence in the police.
: Cole savored the moment, and
then resumed knocking on doors,
gathering more signatures. Now,
!lhe said, was no time to stop: A
temporary leave of absence wasn't
enough.
; "He should have been fired,"
Cole said.
· From the moment a videotape
showed black motorist Rodney G.
J{ing being beaten by white police
officers, the incident struck a
strong emotional chord in South
Los Angeles, a section of the city
~here many residents say they
have known victims like him. In a
IN SOUTH-CENTRAL
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
Clas':'ification: 80-33B
Submitting Office:
WS ANGELES
Indexing:
SEARCHED'--+i .,..:r- . INDEXED
SERIAUZED ! ~fiLEOv=-="
APR 1 2 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES
JO~E~~
Carolyn Bruce expressed sympathy for the police .chief, but said he
must heed community V?ices who believe it ·is~ time for a change.
place where residents have long
felt their complaints of police abuse
rants, browsed in bookstores and
shopped at a Crenshaw Boulevard
have gone unheeded, ministers and shopping mall.
community leaders have helped· A group of teachers were dislead
the call for Gates' resignation. cussing the beating over lunch at
When the Police Commission the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
.decided Thursday to put the veter- . when they got the news. They
an police chief on leave of absence, · broke out in applause.
word spread quickly among the "The whole incident is confirma'-
people who gathered in restau- tion that this sort of thing goes on
FBIIDOJ