officers - The Black Vault

•
FD-i3,50 {Ruv. 5·8·81)
" .....,.,
if. ; tS
1 .. ~ l
(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
:verdict Grfeted With
.. Relief and Elcition
·Among LAP_D .Qfficers
: • Reaction: Many hope their ordeal
· under a microscope will now end. A ·
·minority say the videotape persuaded .
them excessive force was used.
••
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
IDS ANGELES TIMES
IDS ANGELES, CA
Oa~~: 'IHURS., 4/30/92
Edition: FRONT SECI'ION, PAGE 18
nue: VERDICT GREETED Willi
RELIEF AND ElATION
AMONG lAPD OFFICERS
Character: 44Aor
Classification:
80.:. 33B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
By HECfOR TOBAR
and LESLIE BERGER
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
At Parker Center, the downtown police headquarters,
detectives applauded and cheered. They shouted
"Yes!" and "Go get 'em!" as the verdicts were read. • ·
. An~ at the Foothill station, where the whole ugly Depar~ment have endured lif~ under a micr~scope. ~
.a_ffa!r began last year, Officer Corina Smith raised her blue-nbbon ~anel_ was appomted to examme their
fist m the air and smiled. ·, conduct. Their chief has come under fire, and there
: "I'm elated, absolutely elated " ·said Smith 27 a have been dozens of demonstrations by people railing
friend of defendant Laurence M. Powell. "I'm p;oud to against police brutality.
:be .a Foothill officer, and I'm proud to be an LAPD On -yvedn~sday, many officers said, -it seemed their
officer. It's like this sick feeling is finally going to go ordeal was fmally over. .
·away."
"There's no massive jubilation," said Sgt. Peter
~hroughout the city, most Los Angeles police Vanson, a 12-year police veteran. "Mostly we're all in
officers greeted with quiet satisfaction the news that ~hock. The whole department has been through a lot
th_e four defendants in the Rodney G. King beating m the last year. But, h_?pefull!, it'~ all behind us now
tr1al had been acquitted. Although a minority of and we can all get on With our JObs.
officers said they were upset by the verdict most said For some, it was a time to reflect on. the damage
. the1_felt vindic~ted after enduring more tha~ a year of .done to ~he d~partJ:~ent's reputation over the past
,pol~tlcal turmoil and community outrage against year. Offl!!er RICk Corpel, who patrols South-Central
pohce.
Los Angeles, doubted that the images of white .police
. "I was happy for [the defendants], but I was also officers pummeling a bl~ck motorist will ever be
happy for me," said Kevin Jotz, a patrol officer at the erased from the public consciousness.
Southeast Division in Watts. "I felt like, whew, now I · -~ H : •
can breathe. Now people won't say we're all bad. Now ''Were all guilty, guilty by association," Corpel
we won't get cursed out all the time." ·· said. "The public reached its verdict a year
' . For th_e 14 months since the videotaped incident first ago. And that !erdict is guilty. I know, I hear it out
h1t the airwavest the gfficers of the Los Angeles Police here everyday.
· --- Many expressed anger ·that they would soon be
under the command of a new chief, saying Chief Daryl
F. Gates wo4Jd never haye been forced out if had not
been for the King beating. · ·
"There wouldn't have been pressure on Gates or so
·!D~ch. pressure fo~ an outsider to .have been brought
m Without the VIdeotape, Detective Carlos Ramirez
said at Parker Center. .. · ·
In the h9urs and minutes before the verdict was
read, tension was palpabl~ at police facilities across the
city. Sentries were posted ~mtside many stations, a
MAY 0 4 1992
b6
b7C
'move not taken since the Gulf War. Desk officers were
'llbder, instructions from police headquarters to k'eep
reporters out of ~he $~~\Qnfl. _ . . . 'f .
~l( A-lA- II C)C\