Questions for the Police Commission

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates should put a large sign on his desk that reads “The buck stops here.” The chief, the mayor and the Police Commission must pound that message into the department’s entire chain of command in the aftermath of the beating of a black suspect who lay helplessly on the ground. All supervisors must know they will be held accountable for officers who fail in their duty to protect and serve.

Gates has admitted his officers were wrong to club and kick Rodney King, who had been stopped after what authorities say was a high-speed chase prompted by a traffic violation. Was there ever any question that they were wrong? That was obvious to everyone who saw the amateur videotape of the beating.

The chief doesn’t “think other cases are going to erupt, not after this one.” Maybe, but over the years the accusations of excessive force and discrimination by LAPD officers have been many, the legal settlements significant (more than $8 million in taxpayer dollars last year alone) and the chief’s remarks about such controversies often questionable. Thus, the videotaped beating, in all its ugliness, became a watershed event. That’s why the prosecution of a few officers is not likely to quell demands for a deep and thorough look at the department.

What’s to prevent a disgraceful repetition of cops acting like so many hoodlums and beating a suspect? That is the first question for the commission to answer. Mayor Tom Bradley has rightly asked his appointees on the commission to determine if “inherent defects in the department’s command structure” permit such incidents. That’s another good question. Here’s yet another: Does the LAPD generate a larger number of brutality or harassment complaints than occur in other large cities? The commission must determine if force is used too quickly or easily, if there is a systemic disparity in the treatment of minorities and if it can be traced to the LAPD’s command.

The commissioners must also determine if the department provides adequate training and counseling for new and veteran cops in order to minimize the use of force. Are additional safeguards warranted to prevent officers who are “pumped up” from punishing a suspect? Aren’t there well-demonstrated training methods that teach “pumped up” officers how to properly control their reactions? Are all those methods, if already used by the LAPD, working well enough to suit this community?

The board, which is hampered by two recent vacancies, must challenge how the chief and his department operate to determine if a few individuals mar an otherwise well-run department--or if an institutional problem nurtures a climate that leads to street-style, brass-knuckle justice.