Police Efforts During Rioting

In response to “For Some L.A. Fails to Be a Refuge,” May 9:

I read the article with great interest and even greater dismay. Your reporter writes about the extensive damage sustained during the rioting in Huntington Park and the adjoining unincorporated area of Walnut Park. He quotes merchants as saying that “the police did not arrive to protect stores” and “the neighborhood went crazy. The police (were) nowhere in sight.”

On reading this article any individual of average intelligence would have to surmise that the Huntington Park Police Department just abandoned the city and the streets to the criminal element. That is absolutely false!

True, in those first minutes everything went crazy. Huntington Park from Slauson Avenue south to Florence Avenue and the surrounding area was literally inundated by looters. The Police Department, however, was already on an emergency footing and moved into the area immediately. Yes, it took us several hours to get the upper hand, but we did get it, and we got it because we did not abandon the area to the looters and the thieves. On Thursday evening at the peak of the riots, we arrested over 140 individuals. From Thursday evening through Saturday evening the Huntington Park Police Department arrested over 400 individuals. Over 80% of our arrests were of individuals from outside Huntington Park.

We did not get the assistance of the National Guard until early Friday morning; however, around 8:30 p.m. Thursday after we had gained control, we received the welcome assistance of two squads of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. With their able assistance we were able to hold and block off Pacific Boulevard.

I can say without equivocation that in my over 30 years in law enforcement I have never been prouder of any group of officers than I was of the officers and deputy sheriffs who worked the streets of Huntington Park during this civil unrest.

PATRICK M. CONNOLLY

Chief of Police, Huntington Park