The Eyes of the Law : Scenes From Days of the Riots Chronicled on Officers’ Video

Looters scramble through the broken glass door of a Long Beach store. They scurry in empty-handed but walk out laden with goods. One man skips away with an armful of clothes. A pregnant woman, holding her big belly, emerges from the store with what appears to be a diaper bag.

Meanwhile, two outnumbered Long Beach police officers are watching nearby. And taping the scene.

The looting at the Super Bargain Mart on 7th Street was captured on tape by Officers Bob and Barry Fowks, brothers and work partners, who armed themselves with a hand-held video camera during the Long Beach riots April 30 and the tense days that followed.

The original tape--more than 10 hours of footage--was turned over to the Police Department and a federal task force to aid in prosecuting suspects. But outtakes are available in a one-hour video for $15.

The video, available through the Police Officers Assn., chronicles the local disturbances and the aftermath through the eyes of the cops. Replete with music, special effects and titles, it includes shots of looting, fires, squad meetings and officers recovering stolen goods.

Much of the video features in-house moments, such as changing of shifts, and is aimed at police officers. But other scenes are from the first 24 hours of the local riots, when hundreds of stores were vandalized and dozens of buildings set on fire.

In a segment toward the beginning of the tape, the Fowkses stood by while looters stole goods from the Super Bargain Mart. The officers said they staked out the building on a tip that arsonists had targeted the site, but--backed by only one sergeant--they could not control hundreds of looters, they said.

“You have to look at a situation and use common sense,” Bob Fowks said.

The officers finally dispersed the looters, however. Bob Fowks said he lost his patience when he saw a mother bring her teen-age daughter to steal.

“When I saw that, I said: ‘I’m not going to take this anymore.’ ” The officers moved in and ordered everyone to leave, without incident, he said.

The Fowkses said they made the video as a memento for Long Beach officers and as a tribute to them and other city employees who helped restore order to the city.

“It’s something we’re proud of: the way the city of Long Beach came together,” said Barry Fowks, 39, who did most of the taping.

Police Chief William C. Ellis, who was given a copy of the video, said he found it interesting, although he would not encourage all officers to “run around with a video camera.”

He uses some of the scenes from the video during talks he gives to neighborhood groups, he said.

A production company helped edit the video and added songs such as Tom Petty’s “We Need Peace in L.A.” The video has sold more than 200 copies.

The proceeds will pay for neighborhood barbecues as part of an apartment-watch program designed to rid neighborhoods of drug dealers and gangs.

Bob Fowks, 49, recalled working during the Watts riots in 1965. He doesn’t have any footage of those disturbances, only memories. “We wanted to have a historical-type document (of the Long Beach riots,)” he said.

The tape also offers an inside glimpse of how Long Beach police officers, who mostly have been praised for their handling of the civil unrest, were overwhelmed at times during the riots.

The tape shows a man trying to tell the officers about a suspicious character. Bob Fowks tells him: “We don’t care about fires. We don’t care about looting. We care about saving lives. Please go home.”

Bob Fowks explained later that the man had returned to the site, where looters were ravaging a store, three or four times as if it were a carnival. The last time, he came with his family.

“I wanted him to go home. I was concerned about their safety,” Bob Fowks said.

The images in the video range from a close-up of a bloodied victim to an officer trying to calm a hysterical woman at a 7-Eleven store that had been vandalized.

Some scenes are from the streets and some from squad meetings. Long Beach police officers, in full riot gear, stand outside the Long Beach Plaza to protect the downtown mall. An eight-minute segment is devoted to a car chase, which is set to special effects and the song, “Chase.” An officer gives food to a homeless woman and her children. Officers retrieve guns and ammunition from the Big 5 Sporting Goods store on Long Beach Boulevard.

A handful of segments are playful, including one scene in which a National Guard officer makes hand signs and says he’s with the “camouflage gang.”

The most chilling scene in the video is of two men setting a furniture shop on fire. Although the footage was taped by a resident, not the officers, the brothers thought it was so powerful that they included it in their video.

The two suspected arsonists were later arrested and at least one was convicted, according to Sgt. Linda Fierro, a Police Department spokeswoman.

The Fowks brothers said their favorite scenes feature police recovering stolen loot. To the beat of triumphant music, officers and other city employees are seen retrieving stereos, bicycles, a sofa and an oven. Officer Jeff Arndt whistles as he comes down a staircase with a box of stolen items.

Other shots targeted strictly for cops are scenes of officers changing shifts, attending squad meetings and Police Chief William C. Ellis thanking the U.S. Marines for their help. Indeed, most of the buyers of the video thus far have been Long Beach officers.

“We wanted to do this for the officers and everyone else who helped out,” Bob Fowks said. “The whole city came together. I’ve never seen anything like it.”