Taped ‘Sting’ Shows Police Clash With Black in Arrest

A network television crew videotaped a Long Beach police officer as he apparently pushed a black suspect face first through a hardware store window before throwing him onto the trunk of a police car.

The suspect actually was Hawthorne Police Sgt. Don Jackson, a crusader against racism within law enforcement. Using himself as bait, Jackson intended to illustrate recent complaints of alleged racial brutality in Long Beach by catching unsuspecting police officers in a tape-recorded “sting.”

With the help of a television news crew from NBC’s “Today Show,” Jackson and Jeff Hill, a state corrections officer, had rigged a rental car with sound equipment and a hidden video camera.

When the flashing lights of a Long Beach police car lit up the rear-view mirror as the two black men cruised down Pacific Coast Highway, it was just what they had hoped for.

Matter of Controversy

The traffic stop occurred at 11:30 p.m. Saturday at Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

What happened next remained the focus of controversy Sunday.

Jackson maintained that he and Hill had violated no traffic laws and that neither man offered any resistance at any time.

“I was wearing mechanic’s coveralls and had intentionally smeared grease on my hands and face to look like I had just crawled out from under a car,” Jackson said. “I looked dirty and I wasn’t driving a nice car, so I guess he (the police officer) figured they could do whatever they wanted.”

According to Jackson, an officer, later identified as Mark Dickey, repeatedly swore at him, handcuffed him and threw him head-first into the window of the hardware store. The officer also kicked him in the ankles, wrenched his arms and fingers and slammed his head into the hood of the police car, Jackson said.

Jackson complained of being sore Sunday but displayed no visible injuries.

Long Beach Police Lt. Mike Hill said Dickey and Officer Mark Ramsey, who are both white, stopped the car for straddling lanes. Afterward, Jackson assumed a “physically hostile posture” and challenged the officers to a fight, the lieutenant said.

While being searched by Dickey, Jackson’s elbow shattered the window of a hardware store, leaving Dickey with a cut on his hand that required six stitches to close, Lt. Hill said.

Jackson, 30, was arrested for allegedly obstructing a police officer and spent the night in the Long Beach City Jail. He was released on his own recognizance early Sunday.

Jeff Hill was issued a traffic citation at the scene and released.

The “Today Show” tape, broadcast Sunday by KNBC News, shows that the car never strayed over the center line before the police ordered it to stop.

The heated conversation between Jackson and Dickey clearly is punctuated with profanity by the officer, who repeatedly orders Jackson to place his hands on top of his head.

Jackson: “What are you talking about, man? You want to write me a ticket, write me a ticket. Don’t mess with me, man.”

Dickey: “Listen, I got a right to pat you down and I’m gonna (expletive) do that. I don’t know if you’ve got a knife, or weapon, on you.”

“You can pat me down, but don’t mess with me, man.”

“Turn around and put your (expletive) hands on your head now!”

“Why?”

“Do it ‘cause I’m (expletive) telling you to.”

“What are you gonna do? You gonna hit me with that stick?”

“Yeah, I just might.”

“For what?”

“Put your hands on your head!”

“For what?”

“I don’t know if you’ve got a (expletive) knife, you (expletive)!”

“I don’t have a knife!”

“Put your (expletive) hands on your head and turn around!”

At that point, the officer cocks his baton and starts to approach Jackson, who puts his hands over his head and turns.

The officer then grabs Jackson’s hands and, moments later, maneuvers him in front of the store window. There, Dickey appears to slam Jackson face first into the glass, which shatters. After that, the tape shows Jackson being manhandled and thrown onto the trunk of a police car. Jackson can be heard screaming in pain.

Jackson’s group, the Police Misconduct Lawyer Referral Service, also videotaped the arrest, but it did not capture the incident as well as the NBC version.

“This was consistent with a pattern of abuse and excessive force . . . and it marks a clear point that that department needs to be investigated and needs community scrutiny to manage its police officers,” Jackson said Sunday. “You have clear racist overtones with that department.”

Long Beach police officials disagreed and defended their department as impartial when dealing with the public.

“We obviously feel that this situation was set up and we are continuing the investigation to see if the people that set it up would also be the subject of a criminal complaint,” Lt. Hill said.

Commission Review

After viewing the NBC tape Sunday night, Larry Davis, chairman of Long Beach’s Public Safety Advisory Commission, said he intends to recommend that Dickey be suspended immediately “until this whole issue is investigated. There is no place for that kind of activity and excessive force in Long Beach.”

The commission is a citizens’ group that advises the City Council on police matters.

Jackson has been involved in incidents of alleged police mistreatment of blacks before. In February, 1988, he accompanied several black youths to Westwood in an attempt to prove that minorities were being harassed by Los Angeles police in the upscale, predominantly white Westside shopping area. Jackson, who had also arranged the videotaping of that incident, was arrested for allegedly interfering with officers. The charges eventually were dropped.

Jackson has been on a stress disability leave for two years. He has sued the Hawthorne Police Department, claiming his five years on the force were marred by “a never-ending stream of racial epithets, taunts and slurs.”

Times staff writer Edward J. Boyer contributed to this story.