Youth: OPINION : The LAPD Sentences: What Kids Think, What Cops Think

ROBERT KIMMEL: 17, Irvine High School

The sentence was fair. Justice has been served. But I still think there should have never been a second trial. These men were found innocent by a jury. King, after all, was speeding. He was breaking the law, which the judge pointed out in the sentencing. Unfortunately, I’m afraid this sentencing will have an impact on the Denny case. And although there is no correlation between the Rodney King civil rights trial and the Denny trial, in both cases, I think it is nothing but an appeasement for the community.

AMY ROBINSON: 18, North Hills, will attend UC Santa Cruz this fall

It’s very disturbing to me that this horrible beating by police officers, who are supposed to serve and protect the citizens, were given what amounts to a slap on the wrist. I’ve seen other criminal cases, in which the crime was not nearly as severe as this, get a much harsher sentence.

The most disturbing thing is, though, is that cops are supposed to know right from wrong. That, at least that’s what I used to believe, was the difference between the police and the criminals. Because of this, the sentence should be much more severe. When the criminals break the law, they are punished accordingly. But what happens when the people who are the ones that enforce the law break the law? Powell and Koon deserved to get the maximum.

LATARYA MCCARTY: 17, Gardena High School

It was a compromise. I wasn’t surprised--I didn’t think the sentence would be all that harsh. After seeing everything that’s happened the past two years, I knew nothing would change. The trial, the whole incident, has been going on so long, it doesn’t faze anyone anymore. I’m just happy it’s all over. I’m especially happy for Rodney King; he was really a victim of circumstance. I feel sorry for him. But the cops deserved more prison time than what they got.

ENA LOGAN: 19, Crenshaw

I thought the sentencing was too little in one way, but OK in another. Those cops really have no life anymore, no profession, no pension. Even though two years in prison isn’t enough for beating a man like they did, they’re being punished in other ways. But what also disturbs me is that they can come out of prison and write a book about their experiences that will probably make millions.

JEROME DYSON: 17, Gardena High School

I felt the sentence (of 30 months each for LAPD officers Stacy Koon and Lawrence Powell) quite unfair. The judge invented some strange rules that he followed. He was looking to let them off light, because he thought the cops had an unfair trial in the first place. My friends felt kind of angry about it. In my heart, I guess I didn’t really believe the cops would get the maximum just because of how the whole situation had gone.

The trial of the four guys who assaulted Reginald Denny will really determine how people will react. Even though those guys may deserve to be convicted, people will point to how much easier it is to convict blacks for harming whites than whites for harming blacks.

WENDY YANG: 16, Gardena High School

I thought the sentencing was pretty fair. I’ve only been in L.A. for a year and two months. I followed the case on TV and in the newspapers when I was in Taiwan, and I thought people were being too sensitive. I didn’t see it as a racial problem. I felt that the police should have the right to beat a criminal.

Since I’ve been here, though, friends have told me about the LAPD using too much violence on the job. I’ve learned more about the Rodney King case and changed my perspective somewhat. But I still feel the sentence was a fair one.