Sometimes Force Is Necessary

Hundreds of Los Angeles police officers swarmed the intersection of Florence and Normandie when trouble broke out after a demonstration Monday. That impressive and swift show of force sent a strong message.

Without hesitation, Police Chief Willie L. Williams put all officers on tactical alert. No one went home when his or her shift ended. That certainly wasn’t the case April 29 in the hours after a jury acquitted--on all but a single, undecided charge--the LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney G. King. On that horrible day, police officers went home and then-Chief Daryl F. Gates went to a fund-raising party as the protests turned violent and looting, shooting and fires flared into what would be America’s worst urban eruption of this century.

This new chief is different. As Williams told The Times in October: “My job is to make sure that if any of these types of events occur in the future that it’s absolutely important that this department not be perceived as responding in the same way. We cannot afford it. I cannot afford it. I won’t accept it. I think that we are better prepared to respond.”

Williams made good on that promise Monday as the LAPD quickly contained the violence and maintained a high profile late into the night.

The chief and his officers are to be commended for their professional police work. But they would be the first to admit that Los Angeles’ smoldering urban tensions cannot and should not be dealt with by police force alone. Other agencies of government must prove as adept and responsive in the future as the LAPD was Monday night. The bottle and rock throwing in South Los Angeles reflected lingering tensions that stem from perceived--and very real--questions of fairness and opportunity. That’s a larger problem for the city, state and federal governments. Don’t put it all on the police.