Cops and Kids: Fear Fuels Cycle of Distrust : The teen-agers: Six students at Crenshaw High School say police harassment is commonplace in their neighborhoods.

Recently, six students at Crenshaw High School talked with The Times about the beating of Rodney King. The students, all of them black, were asked if they were frightened or felt unusual stress after the incident. They all said no.

The students said harassment by police is a fact of life in their neighborhoods. They told of numerous contacts with police--such as being pulled over and questioned unnecessarily--which they said occurred because they were black. As a result of these incidents involving them and people they know, the students said they generally don’t trust law enforcement.

The Times: When you read about Rodney King or saw the videotape, how did you feel? Were you scared? Were you concerned for your safety?

Christina Royal, 18: I wasn’t overly concerned for my safety because it’s something that you live with day to day to day in this community. I have been stopped several times by the police.

Karen Barrie, 17: If you’re a minority and you’re anywhere, they will stop you pretty much for no reason.

The Times: Give a specific example.

Barrie: I was in my yard where I used to live by USC, and I was waiting for my friends’ parents to pick her up. All of a sudden, the police drove down my street, stopped and called me over. They asked me what my name was, if this was my place . . . what was the address, who do you know here, what are you doing outside and are you part of this gang?

It’s like they happened to see a black person and that person must be part of a gang. What else would she be doing here?

Tommy Young, 18: I was going to the beach about a month ago with a lot of friends in the car. It was near dark and the cops passed us, made a U-turn, came back and pulled us over. They asked what we were doing. We said we were coming to have some fun on the beach with friends. They made us get out of the car and stand along the curb. He checked my whole car and couldn’t find nothing. So he looked at my tires. He gave me a ticket for low air pressure.

He said, “I want you to leave.” So we got back in and left. Then on the way back, another cop pulled us over. He wanted to know what we were doing out there. I said, “We’re going home.” He asked me did I have a license? Did I have insurance? He checked the car again. He made us go home.

The Times: Have you had friends or relatives who have been beaten?

Royal: Not necessarily beaten. It’s like a power trip. (The police) do things to humiliate you. They pulled my ex-boyfriend over one night for nothing. They asked him why one of his lights was out and he explained that he didn’t have the money to get it fixed yet, but he still needed to drive. And the policeman called him “boy” and slapped him to humiliate him because he’s a big guy, and the policeman said I’m going to put this you-know-what in his place.

Tonya Frazier, 17: The police do the same things gangs do. They just get away with it.

The whole police department is not evil. I’ve met good cops. And I appreciate them. But it’s like they’re hiding. You don’t see them on a day-to-day basis.

I think cops generally have to put forth the attitude that they are tough, they are in control. Probably if you talked to them, they wouldn’t be so mean. But at first they want to command that kind of respect.

The Times: When you’re out walking and you see a police car, what’s your gut feeling?

Royal: I want to spit.

Barrie: I respect the institution of the police. But when I see a cop car coming, I just don’t have any respect for them.

Frazier: I get scared. They will stare you down. This is a perfect example: Last week I was walking home. I happened to see a police car come to the cross street and it looked like they were fixing to make a left turn. But they stopped as I was looking at traffic and the driver was looking at me.

I wasn’t looking like I was going to jaywalk, but then the policeman on the passenger side turned and was looking at me too. I’m wondering, what’s the problem? What did I do? I don’t look like I have a gun or anything.

I was all the way at the end of the block. After I reached the corner, they finally did their left-hand turn. But why sit there and stare at me? What was the purpose?

The Times: Do you think your views are representative of the student body?

Hatcher Parnell, 17: Yes. We had a lot of discussions about this in a lot of classes.

The Times: Do you see any difference among police departments or are they all the same?

Shawn Peters, 17: When people see the (L.A. County) sheriffs, they know they mean business.

Young: To me, you could talk more stuff to the LAPD and they’ll take it. But the sheriffs--they don’t play that. The sheriffs know that you’re scared of them. That’s why they don’t bother you that much.

One of them pulled me over. He said, “You’re scared, aren’t you?” I’m like, “Yeah.” He said, “Why?” I said because the sheriff will roll you up if you do something wrong. He started laughing. He was real nice about it. He said you don’t have nothing to worry about.

Royal: It seems like they (the sheriffs) are more responsible with their authority. They use their authority better.

The Times: Some of you said you were scared during the Persian Gulf War, but those weapons were thousands of miles away. Yet when the Rodney King situation goes down, much closer to home, you’re not scared. How come?

Barrie: You feel like there’s more control because it’s closer to home. It’s happening right here, right in front of you. . . . So when this Rodney King incident happens, you can say, “I’m going to say something because I can make a difference.” . . . People feel safer in the community in a situation that they’ve had to deal with more often.

The Times: Could you talk a little more about ways in which you have control?

Frazier: The one thing that really works is “America’s Most Wanted.” They’re giving the public a way to stop crime. If you know anything about this person, they are telling you what to do to help the police.

If the public knew what they could do to help Rodney King and to help incidents with police brutality, I think they’d do it. Right now, they feel that if they call the police, nine times out of 10 they’ll just throw away their phone call or not even think about it. They feel they have no power.

Barrie: I think there has to be a major group, a larger group--like the radicals--that have to go in first. You know, they have that guy, Rev. Al Sharpton. That’s when the people in the neighborhoods will say, “I’m interested, too, since these people are doing it.” The community has the power to do something and to make a difference.

Royal: I think if we get together as a community and make our demands up front and we outline the problem and where the unfairness is, we can make a change. But realistically? No, because there are too many things keeping us apart.

The Times: So there’s not a good chance you will be able to get together?

Young: Too many people are thinking different things. Like some people want (L.A. Police Chief Daryl) Gates to go and other people want him to stay.

Peters: I don’t think it will ever change. Where all-out crime exists, there can’t be a totally good police force. There has to be a couple of bad apples to keep things rolling--who take people in the back room or in the alley or whatever if it keeps people in line.

The Times: So this is inevitable? To maintain respect and order, police are occasionally going to have to go beyond the law?

Peters: Right. Right. That is accepted.

Frazier: I don’t agree with it because it’s not called for. They (overdo) it.

Royal: I agree that for all the sophisticated weapons the criminals have, the police need to have something stronger because the populace can’t be stronger than law enforcement--that results in chaos. But as far as taking folks in a back room and roughing them up, there’s another way to do it.