$20,000 Collected for Families of Koon, Powell

Officers at the station where the officers involved in the Rodney G. King beating once served said they collected $20,000 for families of the two Los Angeles policemen convicted of violating King’s civil rights.

“We got over $10,000 in the first 24 hours (after Saturday’s convictions) from officers and citizens,” said Sgt. Tom Smart, who works at the Police Department’s Foothill Division.

“Regardless of what you think about what happened, it’s just for the families,” Smart said.

Sgt. Stacey Koon, who is married with five children, and Officer Laurence Powell, who is single, face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines each when they are sentenced Aug. 4.

Officer Theodore Briseno and ex-Officer Timothy Wind were acquitted of charges they deprived King of his civil rights in the March 3, 1991, beating. All four officers were based in the Foothill Division at the time of the beating.

“We’ve been getting calls from police all over the city, saying, ‘I got all this overtime and I want to give it back to those guys,’ ” Smart said.