Panel Hears Complaints of Police Brutality : LAPD: Commission will expand inquiry into Dec. 14 disturbance. More than a dozen people allege excessive force by officers.

The Los Angeles Police Commission, after hearing more than a dozen complaints of police brutality, on Tuesday ordered an expanded investigation of officers’ actions during a civil disturbance at the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues in December.

Many of the witnesses represent the Free the LA 4+ Defense Committee, a support group for the men accused in the beating of trucker Reginald O. Denny at the beginning of the spring riots. Some of those who testified Tuesday had been arrested during the Dec. 14 incident, which flared up as the Defense Committee was protesting at the intersection where Denny was beaten.

J. Kakawana, who owns a car detailing business, said police tore up the fence around his property, shot him with a rubber bullet and shoved him to the ground during his arrest.

“You come into our community with sticks and beat us on the side of the head and then expect us to lay down and take it,” he said. “But we’re not going to do that anymore. Give us some respect.”

Paul Parker, head of the Defense Committee and brother of one of the defendants in the Denny beating, said, “The only thing we are asking for is respect, and then respect will be given.” But Parker, who also was arrested during the December melee, added: “If you don’t give us respect, then you are going to have problems.”

The group was led by B. Kwaku Duren, an attorney and a leader of the defense group, who presented the commission with more than a dozen affidavits from the speakers and others alleging police abuse. He noted that none of the complainants have been interviewed by Internal Affairs detectives.

When the speakers were finished, Commission President Jesse Brewer told them the internal review will be expanded to include their allegations. “I think your presentation has been very comprehensive,” he said.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams told Brewer that the internal investigation into alleged police misconduct has yet to be completed. Deputy Chief Matthew Hunt, who supervises police operations in South-Central Los Angeles, said his report on the incident was forwarded to the chief’s office for approval three weeks ago.

Williams gave an account of the incident in a Jan. 19 report to the commission, in which he requested authorization for overtime pay for the officers involved. His report, however, did not discuss any pending investigation into possible police misconduct. Rather, the chief described the incident as one in which the safety of officers and innocent citizens was jeopardized when gang members attempted to disrupt a lawful demonstration by the Defense Committee.

“As the peaceful demonstration began to conclude, local gang members became involved in continuing the demonstration,” Williams wrote. “The presence and actions of the gang members escalated the peaceful demonstration into a major civil disturbance.

“This included assaults on police officers, innocent members of the community and local businesses.”

The strong police handling of the incident has been widely lauded, particularly in contrast to the slow and fragmented response at the beginning of the spring riots. However, some have questioned whether police played a role in setting off the December disturbance.

On Tuesday, the chief said that the people who submitted affidavits were not contacted because officers did not know their names or addresses.

“In terms of the information provided today, it will be followed up and investigated and a report will go back to the Police Commission,” Williams said.

However, many of those who signed the affidavits countered that, since they were arrested during the melee, police obviously have known all along who they are and where they live. “They just don’t want to talk to us,” Duren said.

Some of the most vivid accounts came in affidavits by those who were not arrested.

Cecil Smith, a 22-year-old liquor store security guard, said, “The police kept pushing people back, hitting them with their billy clubs if they didn’t move fast enough.”

Nana Gyamfi, 24, described the injuries of two men she saw at the 77th Street Division station after the disturbance. She said that one man’s eyes were “swollen and watery,” and that there were welts the “size and shape of half dollars” on his chest and back. She said another man had similar welts on his chest and back.

And Sally Gladen, a 46-year-old homeowner, said:

“Lots of people were running down the street and being chased by the police. Some of the people ran in my yard to get away from the police.

“I saw police hitting people for no reason. They hit my niece and nephew because they didn’t go inside the house.”