Black Caucus Plans Statewide Hearings Over Police Abuse
The California Legislative Black Caucus plans to hold statewide hearings on police abuse, a state senator and an assemblyman said at a town hall meeting in Leimert Park on Saturday.
The event was organized by the Community Commission on Police Abuse, a coalition of activists assembled by publisher and community leader Danny Bakewell after the June 23 televised beating of Stanley Miller, who was tackled by officers after being pursued in a stolen car.
“Let’s make no mistake, we’re not here because a brother got beat,” said Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) to a crowd of several hundred people. “We’re here because [the police] got caught beating a brother. These things happen all the time.”
The commission meeting was also attended by Assemblyman Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood); Andre Birotte Jr., the Los Angeles Police Department’s inspector general; and Maulana Ron Karenga, the chairman of the department of black studies at Cal State Long Beach who has been credited with creating Kwanzaa.
The community commission plans to present the LAPD with an independent report on police abuse and urge the department to make changes, such as psychologically reviewing officers involved in violent incidents against blacks.
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