Was Police Investigation an Empty Ritual, or Will It Bring Change? : The Times asked a diverse group of people, most of them Los Angeles residents, to comment on the report of the Christopher Commission. The following commentaries are taken from the interviews. : Hesitation Can Kill

All I can tell you--and I’m speaking as a (Sheriff’s) reserve officer who’s not out there every day--is that as a result of the repercussions of what’s happened, every single member of the (Los Angeles Police) department is--I think in some ways maybe even to the detriment of their safety--overly cautious with the public. I by no means support the way Rodney King was treated, but you’d be amazed at how much taunting there can be out in the streets now as a result of certain people knowing that everybody’s been put on sort of a reserve. That’s true for any department, I think. There’s a backlash effect to all of this kind of stuff.

First and foremost, you’re a public servant. You’re there to “protect and serve.” But the only fear I ever have of something like this is that someday, in a justifiable situation, someone does that one bit of hesitation that may be the difference between survival and not.