King Beating Makes Police’s Job Harder : Law Enforcement: San Gabriel Valley departments weren’t involved in the case but suffer from public backlash.

Almost every weekend, Pasadena police are called to break up a crowd of youths who regularly turn a fast-food stand into a noisy outdoor party.

But on a recent Saturday night, police met an unexpected audience: four video cameras turned on the officers, as the revelers shouted taunts in hope of capturing a glimpse of brutality on film.

“The crowd was definitely attempting to bait us,” said Pasadena Police Lt. Frank Wills, refusing to identify the restaurant. “With four video cameras rolling . . . it was real clear the whole thing was preplanned.”

Although it is Los Angeles police officers who are accused of last month’s beating of Rodney G. King in Lake View Terrace, San Gabriel Valley police say the incident has cast a shadow of suspicion on anyone who wears a badge.

From King’s hometown of Altadena to the quiet streets of Claremont, officers are struggling to distance themselves from the ugly black-and-white images that have tarnished their colleagues in the metropolis to the west.

“We didn’t have anything to do with this LAPD deal,” said Monrovia Police Chief Joseph Santoro. “But people don’t see us as separate. The average citizen just sees the officer in blue.”

Few of the valley’s 20 law enforcement agencies have been spared the embarrassment. Pedestrians have made catcalls as patrol cars cruised by. Crowds frequently gather to scrutinize officers during traffic stops.

On several occasions, police have even been berated by citizens who wonder out loud if they, too, won’t be on the receiving end of a nightstick.

“We’ve had people who our officers have stopped on the street say: ‘What are you going to do? Beat me with your baton now?’ ” said Claremont Police Lt. Gary Jenkins. “We’re trying to be somewhat more empathetic . . . but it creates an extra burden.”

In Altadena, where King was living with his wife and her two young sons, there have also been tensions and name-calling.

“Right after the incident, we were making a routine traffic stop and the first thing out of the guy’s mouth was, ‘I’m not getting out of the car so you can beat me like that other guy,’ ” said Sheriff’s Deputy Philip Brooks.

But deputies in the area say those feelings have already begun to subside.

“I’ve been telling people, ‘Please don’t let what’s happening, what you see on television, translate into what’s happening in Altadena,’ ” said Sheriff’s Lt. John Samuel, the station commander in Altadena. “I think the community understands that’s not our standard operating procedure.”

For some local police departments, the incident has been turned into a learning experience.

In recent weeks, they have reviewed their training manuals, discussed the use of force at roll-call briefings and shown videotapes on how to de-escalate hostile encounters.

“We are spending an awful lot of time at the beginning of every shift talking about community relations--customer service training, if you will--to reinforce the sensitivity of this issue,” said South Pasadena’s new police chief, Thomas Mahoney, who assumed his post 10 days before the March 3 beating.

In other cities, officials warned against indecisiveness on the streets. Baldwin Park Police Chief Carmine R. Lanza distributed a memo to his staff on March 15, describing the King beating as an isolated incident and urging officers not let it impede their performance.

“I . . . want you to guard against being reactive in situations which call for decisive enforcement action,” read Lanza’s memo. “In other words, do what you have to do to get the job done.”

Only a handful of departments have not formally acknowledged the beating, much to the relief of some officers in those agencies.

“Damn, everybody already knows about this,” said Pomona Police Sgt. Larry Zambrano. “I don’t think I need a memo from the chief telling me this was a bad thing.”

In Pasadena, Police Chief Bruce Philpott threw himself into the thick of things, becoming the first Southern California chief to publicly call on Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to retire.

Since then, a few Pasadena officers have privately expressed concern that Philpott was getting unnecessarily involved in a volatile political battle. But the chief said he spoke out because he was angry that the King beating had made a tough job even tougher for police everywhere.

As for the Pasadena Police Department’s own encounter with four unforgiving camcorders, officials said the recent stand-off ended peacefully without much of anything to film.

“The officers were able to resolve the situation without incident,” said Lt. Wills. “I’m sure there are four people out there in possession of a very boring videotape.”