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la. NAME OF INTERVIEWER: Michael Gonzalez
lb. DATE OF INTERVIEW: June 3, 1991
le. LENGTH OF INTERVIEW: Approximately one hour
ld. NOTES: The officer appeared extremely nervous, despite my
attempts to calm him down.
2. I.D. CODE: MG2
3. SEX: Male
4. RACE: White
5. AGE: ..
6. DIVISION: 77th
7. CURRENT RANKLASSIGNMENT:
8. MISCELLANEOUS PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
9. MISCELLANEOUS LAPD BACKGROUND:
11. FIELD TRAINING TRAINING OF F.T.O.s:
12. FIELD TRAINING MISCONDUCT BY/DISCIPLINE OF F.T.O.s:
13. FIELD .TRAINING EVALUATION OF F.T.O.s' PERFORMANCE:
14. FIELD TRAINING ASSIGNMENT(S) TO PROBATIONERS:
Officer MG2 stated that oftentimes a probationer will
not be exposed to the real life situation which ensure proper
training. As· a · result, on various occasions he has had to orally
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explain to a probationer what to do if he or she experiences such
a situation.
15. FIELD TRAINING RELATIONSHIP WITH/TRAINING OF PROBATIONERS:
16; FIELD TRAINING EVALUATION OF PROBATIONERS:
Officer MG2 dislikes any type of paperwork. As a field
training officer he would only enter comments into the evaluation
log if he felt compelled to do so.
17. ROLL CALL TRAINING:
18. USE OF FORCE: ·
19. RODNEY KING INCIDENT:
20. CITIZEN COMPLAINTS:
Officer MG2 believes that many times citizens overly
react to force used by officers when subduing a suspect. It is
his firm belief that citizens are unable to distance themselves
from their personal relationships with suspects involved in arrest
procedures to objectively evaluate the actions of the officers.
21. INTERNAL ·DISCIPLINE:
Officer MG2 has been the subject of investi'gations
based on complaints by citizens on various o~casions. He feels
the investigators inside the department feel very little empathy
toward the plight of the patrol officer. Moreover, he feels that
the penalties handed down by these investigative committees are
disproportionate to the actual infraction.
22. PROMOTION:
O~f icer MG2 understands the importance of rotating
through choice assignments within the department. He believes
that officers should not stay on patrol ·for too long, despite
their ability. He believes any senior officer who is still on
patrol must be "some sort of dummy."
23. ASSIGNMENTS/TRANSFERS:
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24. COMMUNITY POLICING/COMMUNITY RELATIONS:
25. GAYS/LESBIANS:
26. WOMEN:
Officer MG2 stated women who are his contemporaries on
the force are of a different type than those women going through
the Academy now. He feels the department has "lowered its
standards" to attract more women. His comtemporaries are bigger
than the women who are allowed through the Academy today. This
has resulted in a lack of resp~ct on the part of criminals towards
these smaller women. He believes size is very important at the
patrol stage of an officer's career. Hence, not only is the
smaller woman officer at risk based on this lack of respect from
criminals, so is her partner.
27. RACIAL MINORITIES:
28. ATTITUDES/OPINIONS RE LAPD:
Officer MG2 thinks that LAPD policies are unworkable.
He emphatically stated that if every officer continually adhered
to every rule promulgated by the department, the City would grind
to a halt. When he went through training he was told by his FTO
to forget everything he learned in the Academy. He understood
this to mean he was to pick and choose the situations in which
he applied the rules.
29. REFORM SUGGESTIONS:
30. CODE OF SILENCE:
31. MISCELLANEOUS:
Officer MG2 admitted he has matured during his tenure
in the department. In retrospect, he believes he progressed
through the "cowboy on the street" stage and has developed the
perspective of a seasoned officer. Of interest, is the fact
Officer MG2 joined the department so he could put criminals away.
He believes his on-the-job interaction with civilians is limited
only to criminals. He · did state, however, that once he came to
the conclusion that only 10% of the people living in the divisions
he patrols were "assholes", his job became easier. He simply
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accepted the fact he had no interaction with the 90% of the
community who were "probably okay."
Officer MG2 believes that it is alright to react to
individuals he encounters on the street based solely on their
appearance. He feels that individuals who dress like gang members
are gang members. He has no problem confronting individuals
based on their appearance. He disputes their right to dress as
they please stating if they have no gang affiliation then they
should have no problem being dropped off in a rival gang's
neighborhood.
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