Interviews remaining to be completed, 1992-08-03

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Interviews remaining to be completed, 1992 August 3.

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Content TO:
PROM:
RB:
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISOR
TO THE BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Privileged and confidential
Attorney Work Product
August 3, 1992
All Deputy General Counsel n,II
Richard J. Stone \~
General Counsel and Staff Director
Interviews Remaining to be Completed
For each team, please fill in the information regarding
interviews remaining to be completed by your team requested below
and bring this form with you to the Deputy meeting on Friday,
August 7, 1992. Please prioritize the remaining interviews by
listing first the interviews most important to completing your
team's work. Please add additional sheets as necessary.
1.
2.
3.
4.
s.
,.
7.
a.
9.
10.
INTERVIEWS REMAINING TO BE COMPLETED
TEAM:
SUBJECT AREA INTERVIEWER
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL
ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW OF JACK WHITE
Jack White is currently the Chief of the Bureau of
Investigation of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office,
a position which he has held for the last 8 years.
Previously, White served for 27 years as an officer with the
LAPD, retiring in 1985 with the rank of commander. As Chief
Investigator with the D.A's office, White directed the
investigation of the King beating incident and worked
closely with the D.A. during the trial of the four officers.
White thought that acquittals of all four officers
were possible and anticipated a violent reaction from the
public when the verdicts were announced. He personally
conducted meetings with his staff to review their emergency
plan in detail and to make sure everyone understood his or
her individual assignment or responsibility. White thought
LAPD would do the same type of planning, but was told by
Deputy Chiefs Dotson and Frankel that Gates would ignore or
discourage planning efforts.
White learned, through contacts still with the
Department, that Gates mistrusted and had ceased
communicating with his deputy chiefs. He stated that Gates
was trying to run the Department himself, through a select
group of commanders and captains, thus bypassing his top
staff and circumventing the normal chain of command. White
believes that Gates' mistrust of his top staff, combined
with the constant bickering among Gates, the Mayor's office,
the City Council and the Commissioners, lead to a breakdown
of the organizational structure of the LAPD. This, in
White's view, was the primary cause of the LAPD's poor
response to the civil unrest.
White believes that neither officer training nor
the ability to plan were the reason LAPD failed to respond
adequately. White feels that execution and leadership
"from the top" are the particular areas in which the LAPD
failed in this instance. Because of the general breakdown
in the highest segment of the command structure, LAPD did
not have the kind of "well-oiled machine" necessary to
respond to a situation of the magnitude experienced
following the verdicts.
LL922110.154
1
I
LAW OFFICES
IRELL & MANELLA
CONFIDENTIAL
A Partnership Including ProfeHional Corporation•
MEMORANDUM
File: Webster Commission Study Date: August 4, 1992
To: Richard J. Stone,
General Counsel & Staff
Director
From: Arif Alikhan Re: SUMMARY of Interview with Assistant
Chief Jim O'Neill of the Los Angeles
City Fire Department cc: Kenneth R. Heitz
PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY WORK-PRODUCT
SUMMARY
This interview with Assistant Chief Jim O'Neill refers to the role of the
Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) during the civil disturbances in Los
Angeles. Chief O'Neill is the commander of the Supply and Maintenance
Division of the LAFD. In addition to organizing logistical support for the LAFD,
Chief O'Neill also served as a commander for the Hollywood Tactical Area.
This interview summary focuses on the following areas: (1) pre-verdict
planning by the LAFD; (2) logistical support and coordination; (3) strike team
deployments; and (4) post-action analysis.
Larry Ng and I interviewed Chief O'Neill on July 8, 1992 at 10:35 a.m.
This interview took place in Chief O'Neill's office at the Supply and
Maintenance Division Headquarters located at 140 North Avenue 19, Los
Angeles. The following is a summary of this interview which includes our
questions, comments, mental impressions and conclusions, based upon this
meeting, regarding the LAFD's response to the civil disturbances in Los
Angeles.
1118'
B:ONEILL4.FIN .01
RECORD NO.
COPY a OF (o
I
To:
From:
SHARENOW & CORBIN
IAWYERS
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
MEMORANDUM
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL
ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
Office of Special Advisor,
Richard J. Stone
Leonard Sharenow
Julie Huffman
Date:
Re:
July 30, 1992
Interview of California
Highway Patrol Assistant
Commissioner (Chief of
Staff), Ted Starr
File: WB3SfER STUDY/lnteragency Group
Summary of Interview
On July 29, 1992, Leonard Sharenow and Julie Huffman interviewed California
Highway Patrol Assistant Commissioner, Ted Starr in Sacramento. This interview
involves the activities of the CHP in providing logistical support for CHP operations in
Southern California and elsewhere, both before and during the riots.
C\DOC\ WEBSTER\MEM0.8 -1-
RECORD NO.
COPY d OF (p

Asset Metadata

Core Title Interviews remaining to be completed, 1992-08-03

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest

Format 4 p. (format), application/pdf (imt), official reports (aat)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/webster-c100-42494

Unique identifier UC11410216

Identifier box 24 (box),web-box24-11-05.pdf (filename),folder 11 (folder),webster-c100-42494 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier web-box24-11/web-box24-11-05.pdf

Dmrecord 42494

Format 4 p. (format),application/pdf (imt),official reports (aat)

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.

Internet Media Type application/pdf

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Copyright 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.

Source Los Angeles Webster Commission records, 1931-1992 (collection), University of Southern California (contributing entity)

Access Conditions Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@usc.edu; phone (213) 740-5900; fax (213) 740-2343

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

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Title Los Angeles Webster Commission records, 1931-1992

Description Chaired by former federal judge and FBI and CIA Director William H. Webster, the Los Angeles Webster Commission assessed law enforcement's performance in connection with the April, 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest. The collection consists of materials collected and studied by the Commission over the course of its investigation. Materials pertain to both the Los Angeles incident specifically, and civil disturbance, civil unrest control, and policing tactics in general.

Included in the collection are the following: interviews with LAPD officers, law enforcement personnel, government officials, community leaders, and activists; articles, broadcasts, and press releases covering the civil unrest; various tactical and contingency plans created for disasters and emergencies; reports, studies, and manuals about civil unrest control and prevention; literature about community-based policing strategies; emergency plans and procedures developed by other cities; and after-action reports issued once the civil unrest had subsided. Also featured are items related to the internal operations of the LAPD both before and during the civil unrest, including activity reports, meeting agendas and minutes, arrest data, annual reports, curricula and educational materials, and personnel rosters.

See also the finding aid (https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/2266).

See also The Los Angeles Riots: The Independent and Webster Commissions Collections (https://scalar.usc.edu/works/the-los-angeles-riots-christopher-and-webster-commissions-collections/index).

Related collections in the USC Digital Library:

? Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991 (see also the finding aid: https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/2251)
? Richard M. Mosk Christopher Commission records, 1988-2011 (see also the finding aid: https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/393)
? Kendall O. Price Los Angeles riots records, 1965-1967 (see also the finding aid: https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/979)
? Watts riots records, 1965 (see also the finding aid: https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/83)

Thanks to generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the USC Libraries are digitizing this collection for online public access.

Coverage Temporal 1931/1992

Linked assets

Los Angeles Webster Commission records, 1931-1992