Correspondence: complaints against LAPD, 1978-1991, p. 130 |
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Perfection
Is Unattainable
I certainly believe it's ah Isolated incl-
!dcnt, based on my 27 yours of experience in
Los Angeles. We've certainly had other Incidents of misconduct during pursuits. I don't know
how many, but we look
disciplinary action. This
is not what I'd cull a
pattern of conduct. And I
don't believe we've ever
had anything approaching this in terms of severity of misconduct.
The Police Commission
is a review board. They
rovlew disciplinary action. They review uso-of-dcadly-forcc Incidents. They arc Iho head of the department. There Is a built-in civilian review
process that serves the cily of Los Angeles
very, very well.
Daryl Gates has been chief of police a
long time. I think he's going lo continue to
be chief for a long time. When you have an
organisation of about 10,000 people, you
are going lo have some people who do
things they shouldn't do. And It's more
likely to occur in tho police department Just
because of the naturo of Iho work we do.
WILLIAM
KATIIIIUHN
Police Chief,
Dallas, Tex.,
former LAPD
:deputy chief
No one. not a civilian review board, can
guarantee you lhat those events won't
happen. The important thing to focus on is
that the LAPD has aggressively sought out
acts of misconduct. It has aggressively
investigaled any allegations and laken
very severe disciplinary actions when an
officer is found guilty of serious misconduct.
Hold Supervisors
Accountable
How could this shocking incident have
happened in a police dcparlment lhal
enjoys such an outstanding reputation?
There apparently was
a breakdown in control.
Police officers operale
without direct supervision. If dcparlment policies are to be implemented, they must be
accepted universally.
When one member violates a rule, others must
intervene to enforce It.
That did not occur.
Large, decentralized
police departments are complex organizations, difficult to administer. Accountability is an indispensable tool for the chief. It
must be exacted, fairly but firmly, from
assistant chief to sergeant and even al the
officer level.
If the evidence supports criminal convictions, the guilty must be prosecuted lo
: ihe full extent of the law. Supervisors and
commanders who have failed to establish a
proper standard of discipline must be held
\ accountable.
PATRICK
MURPHY
Former N.Y.
Cily Police,
Commissioner
WALTER
GORDON
Los Anfctes
attorney
Maintaining
White Rule
The Los Angeles Police Departmcni has
had a reputation and practice in the black
community of being very
insensitive and brutal.
Usually they do it under
the cover of darkness
and Ifs their word
against the suspect and
there's no witnesses other than other police. This
was a rare case of where
the covers were pulled
off and il ended up being
done in broad daylight
It's some bad apples in
the barrel and part of the problem, too, la
(hat so many of them don't live in (lie city.
don't live in the community. They live in
outlying communities and you get (bis kind
of hostility. And the couniy Sheriff's
Department. Doth of them. I think it's
institutional In terms of wanting to maintain the white man's order and rule—lo
control the black community and the
Latino community al the street level.
Don't Condone,
Don't Prejudge
Whal is al issue when incidents of
excessive use of force occur is the credibility of the police as an
institution to objectively
investigate such incidents and take appropriate action. Because the
police in some quarters
are viewed as a fraternity, their ability lo meet
this standard is viewed at
times as suspect. This is
particularly true with respect to African-Americans, given a history of
uneasy relations with the
police and the role that race has played in
American life.
No one can condone what seemed to be
the unnecessary use of force revealed by
the videotape. What is important now,
however, is how the department responds
lo lhal incident. We must nol allow
emotion to overshadow our judgment or
deny due process for all involved. The
LAPD is an efficient, well-run organization with good leadership. I am confident it
will move with dispatch in conducting the
investigation and take measures to protect
the public Interest and the department's
credibility.
HUBERT
WILLIAMS
President,
Police
Foundation
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. 130 |
| 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 | Perfection Is Unattainable I certainly believe it's ah Isolated incl- !dcnt, based on my 27 yours of experience in Los Angeles. We've certainly had other Incidents of misconduct during pursuits. I don't know how many, but we look disciplinary action. This is not what I'd cull a pattern of conduct. And I don't believe we've ever had anything approaching this in terms of severity of misconduct. The Police Commission is a review board. They rovlew disciplinary action. They review uso-of-dcadly-forcc Incidents. They arc Iho head of the department. There Is a built-in civilian review process that serves the cily of Los Angeles very, very well. Daryl Gates has been chief of police a long time. I think he's going lo continue to be chief for a long time. When you have an organisation of about 10,000 people, you are going lo have some people who do things they shouldn't do. And It's more likely to occur in tho police department Just because of the naturo of Iho work we do. WILLIAM KATIIIIUHN Police Chief, Dallas, Tex., former LAPD :deputy chief No one. not a civilian review board, can guarantee you lhat those events won't happen. The important thing to focus on is that the LAPD has aggressively sought out acts of misconduct. It has aggressively investigaled any allegations and laken very severe disciplinary actions when an officer is found guilty of serious misconduct. Hold Supervisors Accountable How could this shocking incident have happened in a police dcparlment lhal enjoys such an outstanding reputation? There apparently was a breakdown in control. Police officers operale without direct supervision. If dcparlment policies are to be implemented, they must be accepted universally. When one member violates a rule, others must intervene to enforce It. That did not occur. Large, decentralized police departments are complex organizations, difficult to administer. Accountability is an indispensable tool for the chief. It must be exacted, fairly but firmly, from assistant chief to sergeant and even al the officer level. If the evidence supports criminal convictions, the guilty must be prosecuted lo : ihe full extent of the law. Supervisors and commanders who have failed to establish a proper standard of discipline must be held \ accountable. PATRICK MURPHY Former N.Y. Cily Police, Commissioner WALTER GORDON Los Anfctes attorney Maintaining White Rule The Los Angeles Police Departmcni has had a reputation and practice in the black community of being very insensitive and brutal. Usually they do it under the cover of darkness and Ifs their word against the suspect and there's no witnesses other than other police. This was a rare case of where the covers were pulled off and il ended up being done in broad daylight It's some bad apples in the barrel and part of the problem, too, la (hat so many of them don't live in (lie city. don't live in the community. They live in outlying communities and you get (bis kind of hostility. And the couniy Sheriff's Department. Doth of them. I think it's institutional In terms of wanting to maintain the white man's order and rule—lo control the black community and the Latino community al the street level. Don't Condone, Don't Prejudge Whal is al issue when incidents of excessive use of force occur is the credibility of the police as an institution to objectively investigate such incidents and take appropriate action. Because the police in some quarters are viewed as a fraternity, their ability lo meet this standard is viewed at times as suspect. This is particularly true with respect to African-Americans, given a history of uneasy relations with the police and the role that race has played in American life. No one can condone what seemed to be the unnecessary use of force revealed by the videotape. What is important now, however, is how the department responds lo lhal incident. We must nol allow emotion to overshadow our judgment or deny due process for all involved. The LAPD is an efficient, well-run organization with good leadership. I am confident it will move with dispatch in conducting the investigation and take measures to protect the public Interest and the department's credibility. HUBERT WILLIAMS President, Police Foundation |
| Filename | indep-box23-07-04~11.tif |
| Archival file | Volume77/indep-box23-07-04~11.tif |
