Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991, p. 126 |
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"It is not a rejection (of the case] forever, or an indication that we are going to file." said Roger Gunson, head of the district attorney's Special Investigations Division. Meanwhile, accounts from the California Highway Patrol suggested that what should have been a relatively simple arrest at 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning escalated wildly out of control. The pursuit of King's white 1988 Hyundai waa initiated by CHP officers, who estimated that King's car,was hitting speeds as high as 115 m.p.h. on the westbound Foothill, Freeway. The CHP said they called for assistance and had pulled King over in Lake View Terrace in the San Fernando Valley when several LAPD officers "jumped Into the mess," said a law enforcement source familiar with the report CHP officers filed with their supervisors. When the sedan finally stopped in the 11700 block of Foothill Boulevard, King was ordered out of the car via a loudspeaker and he "appeared to be acting funny, but not violent—laughing and pointing up to the LAPD helicopter that was there." , The source said that a police sergeant told the CHP that his officers would handle things. Witnesses said King was already lying on the ground when a police officer shot him with a stun gun, delivering an electrical shock of 50,000 volts. Officers then clubbed him wildly. There was a brief lull and King lay silent until one officer stomped on his head. One of the CHP officers at the scene exhorted the police officers to stop the beating bul was told, in effect, to "stay out of it," according to the source. "Basically, they beat the guy half to death," the source said. King was later hogficd, with handcuffs around his wrists and ankles, then taken away In an ambulance. As King talked about the beating Wednesday, his speech was slurred and repetitive. He seemed dazed. And his account of what led to the attack differed considerably from that offered by police. "There was no chase," King contended, Insisting that he was doing 45 m.p.h. In a 35-m.p.h. zone. After he pulled his car to a stop, King said he was told to put his hands in full view and that he complied. Polico told him to get out of tho car and lie down, and King said he did. 'They shocked me . . . they paused for a minute and then they struck me across tho face real hard with a billy club," King said, his face lopsided with swelling and a fresh scar on his right cheek. He lifted hia hospital garb to show other marks, a large bruise on hia chest, a fading one on hia arm, part of his right leg in a cast "My ankles. They beat where it hurt in my ankles, they beat my whole body where it hurt ... It hurts real bad." King, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 225 pounds, said he did not resist police. "No, no, no. I wouldn't strike back," King said. "I don't think no one would strike back against four or five guns aimed at him." King's attorney, Robert Rentzer, said some of King's teeth were knocked out. A doctor who treated him said King took at least 20 stitches, five of them in the mouth, and had so many cuts that he required antibiotics to prevent infection. "He looked like he was run over by a freight train," Rentzer remarked. "He is in pain and has some problems with his memory. Tho word terrlblo doesn't describe how ho looks." Tho Investigation into tho alleged police brutality moved steadily forward Wednesday. John R. Dunne, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department Is conducting a parallel Inquiry to ensure that local authorities do • proper Job. The violent Images of white police officers pounding an apparently defenseless black man have raised the ire of civil rights groups from the ACLU to the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, and has brought one more embarrassing controversy to a Police Department recently saddled with plenty. Former Laker Jamaal Wilkes alleges the LAPD detained him because of the color of his skin last December when lie was pulled over and handcuffed by two officers. Disclosure of Wilkes' complaint came on the heels of the federal Jury award of $540,000 to former major league baseball player Joe Morgan, who alleged In a lawsuit that he was Illegally detained and roughed up in 1988 by a Los Angeles police officer who had mistaken the Hall or Pamcr for a drug runner. Morgan was grabbed by the neck at Los Angeles International Airport, thrown to tho floor and handcuffed before a crowd of onlookers. In recent months, Bradley has moved to strengthen tho civilian Police Commission that oversees the department, but lost two veteran members through resignations this week. While Gates called the booting an aberration, Bradley said It points to a breakdown in leadership that begins with the chief himself. "The supervision does, In fact, flow from the top of the department down—through his orders and instructions, through hia training," the mayor said. "All of that Is connected. Wc want to see where there was a breakdown, a departure from established orders and procedures in this case." Neither Gates nor any other police official would comment on the King case, pending the outcome of the department's internal investigation. Police contend King fought their attempts to restrain them. But the videotape made by amateur photographer George Holliday from the second-floor balcony of his nearby apartment—along wllh more than a dozen eyewitness accounts—have called Into question the police officers' version. Josie Morales, who was asleep in her apartment when sho heard Sunday night's commotion, said about 10 police officers formed on Irregular circle around the prone King. Sho said sho saw an officer shoot him with tho stun gun and then begin clubbing him. King tried to got up when two more officers struck him with batons. "Ho didn't touch anybody. He got up and ran blindly, but not running at anyone, Just trying to got away," Morales suid. Wo thought maybe they'd stopped him for guns or drugs or oven murder. . . . There was nothing that tho guy did lhat could warrant that kind of beating. ..." King, 25, from Altadena, has been working as a maintenance man at Dodger Stadium but was to start a construction job on Monday, the day after the Incident with police. He was released from prison in December after serving a year for second-degree robbery. A parole supervisor speculated that he might not have slopped because he feared a speeding ticket would jeopardize his parole. But King said he pulled over as soon as ho saw the red lights. "I may have been speeding Just a little bit," he said Wednesday. . King's attorneys said they wore preparing to file a civil rights suit against the LAPD. "But for the tape I'm nol sure Justice would have been done," Rentzer suid. "Wc don't know what tho full extent of Mr. King's injuries arc . . . It could be worth millions of dollars." But King's family emphasized through their luwyors thai their cane would not bo about racism. "They are nol looking lo lurn this Into a racial crusado, Rentzer said. "Ills rights were totally violated |but| It's his rights, nol the rights of u race or creed or a religion that's al Issue hore. It's the lights of o human being." Timet staff writers Leslie B*rg*r, Mohant Lee Cetvm, AsMey Dime, *»»•• son HwwieJi Osn Ingram, HMSM #• Oslrtw, Merrl Itemerg and Lois Tim* nkik eentfttmte* to tMa atery.
Object Description
Title | Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991 |
Description | Newspaper clippings (Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, Los Angeles Daily News, New York Times, Sentinel) and magazine articles (U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek) documenting Los Angeles Police Department misconduct under Chief Daryl F. Gates, 1978-1991, compiled by Irving Kessler and Lynn F. Kessler. Includes: Introduction, Contents, Excessive force, Rodney King, Mexican nationality, Civil rights, Property, Silence, Discrimination, Accountability, Gates intolerance, Recommendations. PART OF A SERIES: Materials in the series fall into one of several categories related to the Independent Commission's work product: (1) Commission meeting materials, which include meeting agendas, work plans, memoranda, and articles about police misconduct that were circulated and reviewed during the Commission's internal meetings; (2) public correspondence, which includes citizen complaints against the LAPD in the form of written testimony, articles, and an audio cassette tape, as well as letters drafted by citizens in support of the LAPD; (3) summaries of interviews held with LAPD officers regarding Departmental procedures and relations; (4) public meeting materials, which include transcripts, supplementary documents, and witness statements that were reviewed at the Commission's public meetings; (5) press releases related to the formation and work product of the Commission; and (6) miscellaneous materials reviewed by the Commission during its study, including LAPD personnel and training manuals, a memorandum of understanding, and messages from the LAPD's Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT) system. |
Coverage date | 1978/1991 |
Creator |
Kessler, Irving, compiler Kessler, Lynn F., compiler |
Publisher (of the original version) | Los Angeles Times; L.A. Weekly; U.S. News & World Report; Los Angeles Daily News; New York Times; Newsweek; Sentinel |
Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California, USA; Washington, DC, USA; New York, New York, USA |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
Date created | 1991 |
Date issued | 1978/1991 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 368 p. |
Format (aat) |
clippings (information artifacts) articles summaries |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991 |
Series | Independent Commission File List |
File | Complaints, suggestions, and support |
Box and folder | box 23, folders 7-9 |
Provenance | The collection was given to the University of Southern California on July 31, 1991. |
Rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Repository name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository email | specol@dots.usc.edu |
Filename | indep-box23-07_09 |
Description
Title | Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991, p. 126 |
Format (imt) | image/tiff |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | "It is not a rejection (of the case] forever, or an indication that we are going to file." said Roger Gunson, head of the district attorney's Special Investigations Division. Meanwhile, accounts from the California Highway Patrol suggested that what should have been a relatively simple arrest at 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning escalated wildly out of control. The pursuit of King's white 1988 Hyundai waa initiated by CHP officers, who estimated that King's car,was hitting speeds as high as 115 m.p.h. on the westbound Foothill, Freeway. The CHP said they called for assistance and had pulled King over in Lake View Terrace in the San Fernando Valley when several LAPD officers "jumped Into the mess," said a law enforcement source familiar with the report CHP officers filed with their supervisors. When the sedan finally stopped in the 11700 block of Foothill Boulevard, King was ordered out of the car via a loudspeaker and he "appeared to be acting funny, but not violent—laughing and pointing up to the LAPD helicopter that was there." , The source said that a police sergeant told the CHP that his officers would handle things. Witnesses said King was already lying on the ground when a police officer shot him with a stun gun, delivering an electrical shock of 50,000 volts. Officers then clubbed him wildly. There was a brief lull and King lay silent until one officer stomped on his head. One of the CHP officers at the scene exhorted the police officers to stop the beating bul was told, in effect, to "stay out of it," according to the source. "Basically, they beat the guy half to death," the source said. King was later hogficd, with handcuffs around his wrists and ankles, then taken away In an ambulance. As King talked about the beating Wednesday, his speech was slurred and repetitive. He seemed dazed. And his account of what led to the attack differed considerably from that offered by police. "There was no chase," King contended, Insisting that he was doing 45 m.p.h. In a 35-m.p.h. zone. After he pulled his car to a stop, King said he was told to put his hands in full view and that he complied. Polico told him to get out of tho car and lie down, and King said he did. 'They shocked me . . . they paused for a minute and then they struck me across tho face real hard with a billy club," King said, his face lopsided with swelling and a fresh scar on his right cheek. He lifted hia hospital garb to show other marks, a large bruise on hia chest, a fading one on hia arm, part of his right leg in a cast "My ankles. They beat where it hurt in my ankles, they beat my whole body where it hurt ... It hurts real bad." King, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 225 pounds, said he did not resist police. "No, no, no. I wouldn't strike back," King said. "I don't think no one would strike back against four or five guns aimed at him." King's attorney, Robert Rentzer, said some of King's teeth were knocked out. A doctor who treated him said King took at least 20 stitches, five of them in the mouth, and had so many cuts that he required antibiotics to prevent infection. "He looked like he was run over by a freight train," Rentzer remarked. "He is in pain and has some problems with his memory. Tho word terrlblo doesn't describe how ho looks." Tho Investigation into tho alleged police brutality moved steadily forward Wednesday. John R. Dunne, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said the Justice Department Is conducting a parallel Inquiry to ensure that local authorities do • proper Job. The violent Images of white police officers pounding an apparently defenseless black man have raised the ire of civil rights groups from the ACLU to the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, and has brought one more embarrassing controversy to a Police Department recently saddled with plenty. Former Laker Jamaal Wilkes alleges the LAPD detained him because of the color of his skin last December when lie was pulled over and handcuffed by two officers. Disclosure of Wilkes' complaint came on the heels of the federal Jury award of $540,000 to former major league baseball player Joe Morgan, who alleged In a lawsuit that he was Illegally detained and roughed up in 1988 by a Los Angeles police officer who had mistaken the Hall or Pamcr for a drug runner. Morgan was grabbed by the neck at Los Angeles International Airport, thrown to tho floor and handcuffed before a crowd of onlookers. In recent months, Bradley has moved to strengthen tho civilian Police Commission that oversees the department, but lost two veteran members through resignations this week. While Gates called the booting an aberration, Bradley said It points to a breakdown in leadership that begins with the chief himself. "The supervision does, In fact, flow from the top of the department down—through his orders and instructions, through hia training," the mayor said. "All of that Is connected. Wc want to see where there was a breakdown, a departure from established orders and procedures in this case." Neither Gates nor any other police official would comment on the King case, pending the outcome of the department's internal investigation. Police contend King fought their attempts to restrain them. But the videotape made by amateur photographer George Holliday from the second-floor balcony of his nearby apartment—along wllh more than a dozen eyewitness accounts—have called Into question the police officers' version. Josie Morales, who was asleep in her apartment when sho heard Sunday night's commotion, said about 10 police officers formed on Irregular circle around the prone King. Sho said sho saw an officer shoot him with tho stun gun and then begin clubbing him. King tried to got up when two more officers struck him with batons. "Ho didn't touch anybody. He got up and ran blindly, but not running at anyone, Just trying to got away," Morales suid. Wo thought maybe they'd stopped him for guns or drugs or oven murder. . . . There was nothing that tho guy did lhat could warrant that kind of beating. ..." King, 25, from Altadena, has been working as a maintenance man at Dodger Stadium but was to start a construction job on Monday, the day after the Incident with police. He was released from prison in December after serving a year for second-degree robbery. A parole supervisor speculated that he might not have slopped because he feared a speeding ticket would jeopardize his parole. But King said he pulled over as soon as ho saw the red lights. "I may have been speeding Just a little bit," he said Wednesday. . King's attorneys said they wore preparing to file a civil rights suit against the LAPD. "But for the tape I'm nol sure Justice would have been done," Rentzer suid. "Wc don't know what tho full extent of Mr. King's injuries arc . . . It could be worth millions of dollars." But King's family emphasized through their luwyors thai their cane would not bo about racism. "They are nol looking lo lurn this Into a racial crusado, Rentzer said. "Ills rights were totally violated |but| It's his rights, nol the rights of u race or creed or a religion that's al Issue hore. It's the lights of o human being." Timet staff writers Leslie B*rg*r, Mohant Lee Cetvm, AsMey Dime, *»»•• son HwwieJi Osn Ingram, HMSM #• Oslrtw, Merrl Itemerg and Lois Tim* nkik eentfttmte* to tMa atery. |
Filename | indep-box23-07-04~07.tif |
Archival file | Volume76/indep-box23-07-04~07.tif |