NCJ Number
162809
Date Published
1995
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video traces the history of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), using narration and documentary video clips, from 1950 to 1995 and the O.J. Simpson trial, focusing on strategies of policing under the various police chiefs, reactions to police by the black community, and critical incidents that both revealed and galvanized racial tensions between the LAPD and African-American residents of Los Angeles.
Abstract
The video begins with a review of Bill Parker's tenure as police chief from 1950-1966. He took a corrupt department and reformed it to become a well-disciplined, militaristic force that suppressed crime through aggressive and proactive tactics. The black community reacted to such tactics, and an encounter between police and a drunk driver in the Watts section of Los Angeles led to the explosive Watts riots of 1965. Parker died in 1966 to be succeeded by Tom Reddin, who sought to improve police-community relations, but the times were too volatile for him to succeed in this effort. Ed Davis, who was chief from 1969-1977, did implement community policing by assigning officers to particular beats that they maintained over a period of time to become familiar with the community and its residents. Crime decreased during his tenure. When Daryl Gates became chief in 1978, crime was on the increase again in Los Angeles, and Gates reverted to the tactics of Parker, whom he considered to be his mentor. Gates introduced the SWAT team and the helicopter patrol. Many residents viewed Gates' measures as symbols of a military occupation that focused on black communities. Choke holds that led to the deaths of some black suspects and some careless remarks by Gates fueled the tension between black residents and the LAPD. The tension erupted with the Rodney King beating and the subsequent acquittal of the officers responsible. Rioting and burning once again consumed black neighborhoods. The video traces the events that forced Gates' retirement and the efforts of his successor Willie Williams, the first African-American chief of the LAPD, to reduce racial tensions between police and the black community. The O.J. Simpson trial, which revealed the racist attitudes of detective Mark Fuhrman on tape, showed that some police personnel still harbor racist attitudes and that blacks still mistrust the police and are willing to believe that the LAPD continues to treat blacks unjustly and with malice.