LOS ANGELES : Group Plans to Videotape Police Response to Gangs

A leader of the Ministers’ Coalition for Peace has announced that his group will begin videotaping the actions of officers called to the scenes of unity rallies and picnics between once-rival gang members.

Carl Washington told the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday that he is upset that police seem unwilling to meet with gang leaders and discuss a delicate truce that has formed between rivals since the April riots. “We’re losing in our community,” he said.

Washington later said his group wants to document evidence that a heavy police presence at the gatherings is heightening tensions and endangering the truce.

Police commissioners said they are gathering information about the peace events and how police perform there. They note that police officers must respond to the scenes, often because they receive calls for help from citizens who are bothered by loud noise and public drinking at the gatherings.