After the Riots : NEWS IN BRIEF : Many in Orange County Poll Foresee Civil Unrest

More than half of Orange County residents surveyed say it is “very or somewhat likely” that the county will experience violence similar to the civil unrest that swept Los Angeles after the Rodney G. King case verdicts, a Times Orange County Poll has found.

Of those polled, 53% said they believe a similar outbreak of violence is “likely” or “very likely” to occur in Orange County in the next few years. That number was slightly higher in the more urbanized central area of the county.

The Orange County poll, conducted by Mark Baldassare and Associates, sampled 600 registered voters from May 16 to May 19. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

The poll also found that seven in 10 Orange County residents disagreed with the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four Los Angeles police officers charged in the beating of King. In Los Angeles County, the figure was eight in 10.

Eight of 10 people in Orange County called the violence that erupted after the verdict “totally unjustified”--a slightly higher negative response than in the Times poll conducted in Los Angeles on May 3-4 where 75% said there was absolutely no justification for the violence.

Meanwhile, 22% of Orange County residents agreed with the verdict, while in Los Angeles, the recent Times poll showed 13% agreed with the jury’s decision.