Los Angeles Webster Commission records, 1931-1992

Eugene Mornell, interview, 1992-08-28

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Eugene Mornell, interview, 1992-08-28

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Content PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
To:
From:
Re:
Re:
Richard J. Stone, General Counsel
Office of the Special Advisor
Margaret Levy (v
August 28, 1992
June 26, 1992 Interview with Eugene Mornell
ABSTRACT
Eugene Mornell, Executive Director of the Los
Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, stated that he
believes that there should be an immediate and massive law
enforcement presence in the event of an outbreak of violence.
He expressed dismay at the similarity between the Watts riots
and its aftermath and the civil disturbance following the
Rodney King verdict. He referred to a January 1985 report on
a public hearing jointly sponsored by the Los Angeles County
and City Human Relations Commissions which concluded with the
following prophetic words: "W? canhot emphasize too strongly
the critical nature of the problems described in this report
and the implications of continued inaction. We should not
have to wait for a second Los Angeles riot to erupt to bring
these problems to serious public attention."
...
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
Richard J. Stone, General Counsel
Office of the Special Advisor
Margaret Levy~
August 28, 1992
June 26, 1992 Interview with Eugene Mornell,
Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Human
Relations Commissions
On Friday, June 26, 1992, at 2:30 p.m., I
interviewed Eugene Mornell, Executive Director of the Los
Angeles County Human Relations Commission in his office in
the Hall of Records, 320 West Temple Street, Room 1184. The
following is a summary of my recollection of this meeting,
including my questions and comments, together with my mental
impressions, conclusions and opinions, based upon the
meeting.
1. Background Information
The Los Angeles County Human Relations
Commission (the "Commission") was established in 1944.
Mornell was a member of the Commission during the Watts
riots. Mornell stated that on March 28, 1984, almost 20
years after the Watts riots occurred in 1965, the Los Angeles
County and Los Angeles City Human Relations Commissions
jointly sponsored a public hearing to focus on the problems
identified by the McCone Commission. The McCone Commission
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
had been appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown to investigate
the Watts riots. Marnell provided me with a copy of the
January 1985 report on the public hearing entitled "McCone
Revisited: A Focus on Solutions to Continuing Problems in
South Central Los Angeles." A copy of that report is
attached. Marnell made the point that the civil disturbance
following the Rodney King verdict was predictable and had
been brewing for some time. He pointed particularly to the
prophetic concluding words of the January 1985 report which
read:
"We cannot emphasize too. strongly the critical
nature of the problems described in this report and
the implications of continued inaction. We should
not have to wait for a second Los Angeles riot to
erupt to bring these problems to serious public
attention."
2. Anticipation of Verdict
Marnell stated that in April 1992, Supervisor
Kenneth Hahn said to three of the Commissioners on the Los
Angeles County Human Relations Commission that "you ought to
look at the contingency plan for the Simi Valley verdict." A
staff member of the Commission called Deputy Chief Matthew
Hunt of the LAPD and asked him about the LAPD's contingency
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
plan for the King verdict. Deputy Chief Hunt advised the
staff member not to write a letter and assured him that the
LAPD had a plan in place and that the LAPD realized that
there was likely to be some kind of response. The Commission
also contacted the Sheriff's Department and either the
Mayor's office or Mark Ridley Thomas' office to ask if there
was a contingency plan in place. They were assured that
there was.
3. Intelligence
Mornell did not comment on this issue.
4. Planning
Mornell stated that there should be an immediate
and massive law enforcement presence in the event of an
outbreak of violence. He stated that Chief Parker and other
police chiefs over the years had talked about such a
response, and he was under the impression that the LAPD had
the necessary plans and technology to carry it out. Mornell
also noted that on April 29, 1992, Mayor Bradley sent a
letter to local radio and television stations urging them to
focus attention on community leaders and residents who were
acting constructively and calmly and advising the media of
the need to exercise restraint. A copy of the letter to Mr.
Scott Gorwitz, News Director of KFWB which was postmarked
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
April 30, 1992, is attached. Mornell also provided me with a
copy of a May 5, 1992 letter from Minnie Lopez-Baffo, the
President of the Commission, to Mr. Stanley Scheinbaum in
which Ms. Lopez-Baffo congratulated the Police Commission for
conducting an immediate investigation into the LAPD's
contingency planning in response to the violence. In her
letter to Mr. Scheinbaum she pointed out the need for prompt
and massive response to any initial violence, the need for
television reporters not to identify the exact locations of
such violence, with law enforcement requests for such
restraint to be made if necessary. She also asserted the
possibility that the LAPD was criminally negligent, in that
either there was no contingency plan, the plan was ignored or
the plan was incompetently carried out. Mornell also
provided me with William Webster's May 20, 1992 letter to Ms.
Lopez-Baffo thanking her for her observations and Mr.
Scheinbaum's May 27, 1992 response to Ms. Lopez-Baffo, copies
of which are attached.
5. Effects of Political Atmosnhere and Pre-Verdict
Comments
Mornell pointed out that Mayor Bradley's April 29,
1992 letter to local radio and television stations may not
have been mailed on April 29, 1992. Most of the reporters
and news directors are young and new and were not around
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
during the Watts riots. Marnell was a member of the
Commission at the time of the W~tts riots. He pointed out
that the request for the news media to exercise restraint
was honored in 1965, so why not now? He queried whether it
was ever discussed and whether there was ever any media
planning as to how the response to the Rodney King verdict
should be handled by the media.
6. LAPD Management
7.
Marnell did not comment on this issues.
LAPD Relationship to Police Commission
Marnell did not comment on this issue.
8. Adequacy of Police Response
Mornell felt that there should be an immediate and
massive law enforcement presence in the event of an outbreak
of violence. He felt that there should have been a plan in
place for many years, and the incident should have been .
anticipated. Marnell stated that the lack of response is
almost criminal, and that most of the damage that was done,
including the deaths and injuries, were due to lack of police
response. He does not believe that the inadequacies in the
LAPD response were due to lack of resources or budgetary
constraints.
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
9. Reasons for Inadequacies
Mornell commented that the Police Commission should
have coordinated with the National Guard and other law
enforcement agencies. He felt that there should be
coordination between the LAPD and the National Guard, the
California Highway Patrol and the Sheriff's Department. In
addition, he thinks the LAPD's responsibility for dealing
with the media should be clarified.
10. Nature of Violence
Mornell stated that it appears to have been a
concerted plan or effort to firebomb, but it could have been
stopped by police action.
11. Lessons Learned
Mornell pointed to Ms .. Lopez-Baffo's May 5, 1992
letter, a copy of which is attached, in which she states that
the single most important lesson learned in the wake of the
Watts riots was the need for prompt and massive response to
any initial violence. Another lesson learned was the need
for television reporters not to identify the exact locations
of such violence.
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PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:
ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
12. Recommendations for Improvement
There should be an immediate and massive law
enforcement presence in the event of an outbreak of violence.
Radio and television stations should not report the exact
locations of violence. There should be media planning as to
how to deal with any outbreak of violence. The Police
Commission should have been coordinated with the National
Guard and other law enforcement agencies, and there should
have been better communication between the LAPD, the National
Guard, the California Highway Patrol and the Sheriff's
Department. There should have been a contingency plan in
place for many years.
13. Use of Interviewee at Any Community Meetings or
Hearings
I do not feel that Mornell would be a particularly
useful witness in view of his lack of first hand knowledge.
14. Additional Interviewees Suggested
Mornell suggested that we interview former Police
Chiefs Ed Davis and Tom Reddin regarding contingency plans
and former Governor Edmund G. Brown in connection with the
issue of bringing in the National Guard.
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Description

Interview of Eugene Mornell, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Rights, about the Los Angeles Police Department's preparedness to handle instances of civil disturbance, and the adequacy of the Los Angeles Police Department's response to the violence and unrest, 1992 August 28.

Asset Metadata

Core Title Eugene Mornell, interview, 1992-08-28

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest

Format 8 p. (format), application/pdf (imt), Interviews (aat)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/webster-c100-33233

Unique identifier UC11449697

Identifier box 20 (box),web-box20-026-01.pdf (filename),folder 26 (folder),webster-c100-33233 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier web-box20-026/web-box20-026-01.pdf

Dmrecord 33233

Format 8 p. (format),application/pdf (imt),Interviews (aat)

Type texts