17w. follawlng . 1dta' war.
unt to memben cf the IM
• Altgela PoUce Commlulolt
to brl1't If' their allOllion
tM d/scrlmlnaliOll again.rt
gay me11 by the LAPD. Ordi­narily
Vanguard does not
pllblish 1111S1~ letten. but
qfter q¥Qklng with tM au­thor.
Va1tguanl fe/J that an I
~~Ill f1!der.-r- I
J am a wi:D.io py male who
bu leell police power- med
in lhockina ways. I was l afraid IO report the abuses
Chea. and I am afraid now,
which is why dlia letter 'is
~ beina written ancoymoosly. I
I
And it shoo.Id be noted here
that all the policemen in­volved
in these incidents
were white. l Whilo few of these i,nci-deots
involved actual physi- .
cal bnitality. t'hey certainly
demonstrate the mind-set of I many of LA. •a "finest ...
These are people who should ,
have hem weeded out dur-ing
tnt.ining through ~cbo- '
~eol.BITEQ,pmge 10
I 10/PartWApril 19, 199J
LETI'ERS with me, still with lhe spot·
camimld f'roal.ptp9 li-ibt oa. burst out lm&bing.
logical evahiatioa: and drove off rapidly. Nam-
• Once, whea I cbao,ged rally. when they tu.med onto
jobs, l celebrated too much a side stree.t. they ignored
and was arrested for Driving the red stop sign and just
Under the lntluence. At the drove oo through. Tlieir
lltatioo, whea they took. my humor was based oo their
possessiODS, I counted out power.
my money, putting it ill • One night around 4 a.m. I
piles of tens, fives, and was waiting for a bus OD
singles. My receipt said oaly 'SUD!lllt Boulevud. oo the
"mooey,'' an unspecified IOUthwesl comer. The oaly
amount. The oext mOrnini other per80CI ~ wu an
when I was released, there African-America, crossing l
~ DO tens, only two from the nbrtbeast IO the
fives, and all my singles. I southeast corner. ~ squad
was too afra.id IO pursue the car pulled up IO him. I cou.ld
matter. DO( bear what Ibey said, bul
' At a Sizzler Restaurant in it was evident to me that the
Hollywood, I was oext in black man was cooperating. 1
.lioe after two policemen. He pulled out his wallet
-One of them gave their order from his back pocket and
to the employee, adding, banded it to ooe of the offi·
•• And it better be done right ~. Ooe by ooe, the polic:o­or
I'll put some boles in. the man took out the cards from
c:eilina." or itself, it seems !be walld and dropped them
minor, but it's one more , into the ,wter. One by one
piece in the mosaic. · Ibey made their victim pick
• While oo a bus dorina a them up. They bandCUffed
traffic jam, I saw a black 'him and put him in the back
man running from four ~ seat. Ooe of them crossed
lice. I don't mow why they tbe street to me md asked.
were after him, but be "Are you a friend of his?"
dropped to the ground be- I said no. He said, " Good,"
fore the officers caught up. returned to their squad car,
Be bad bis bands over his md they drove off. I was too
face and was curled up in the scared to report it.
fetal position, offering no • Once the police pulled me
resistance. When the officers over for speeding. It was a
were alongside of him, two deserted road in Highland ! 10f them started beating him Paik, about 10 p.m. The
with their wooden clubs. I officen were very· cordial.
was too afraid to report it. Ooe questiooed me while· the
• I was robbed at iuxipoint other went back to their car
once when workin& in a gay to nm a "make" on me.
restaurant. The police at· When be ret:umed be was
rived fairly promptly, and still pleasant; but be said,
they were polite. But one of "So you thinlc there should
them got a call on what I be a civilian review board
illCSS was a walkie-tallcie, for the police department,
and be said to bis partner, hub?" I explained that I bad
"We've got to hurry. A atttt>ded one of the activists'
couple of niggers just broke meetings and never relUmed
into an office," and be ·(Now, of course, I wish 1
named a nearby street. Yes, bad.) Bui that was informa·
they were polite to me, but I lion that should never have
can imagine what they said been on my "make." I bad
after they left. signed in on the meetir:\g's
• 1 was driving home from roster, so obviously some­Higbland
Park one very one who bad access to it was
dark, late night. The street acting as a spy for the po­was
deserted except for me, lice. But what was political
until a squad car pulled in information doing oo my
behind me. The officers driving record? I was loo
signaled me, with their bli· afraid to do anything.
nding spotlight, to pull I sincerely hope s'ensitivity
over. I followed their direc· training bas improved - but
lions, wondering what I'd I doubt it. - ,.. "
done. They drove up parallel And I'm still afraid.