That’s right, even LAPD chief William Bratton was appalled by the thuggish behavior of his own troops towards immigration rights protesters and members of the media yesterday in L.A. But then, Bratton has said this kind of thing before, but nothing ever seems to change, does it?
As one who lived in L.A. for thirty years and recently moved, hey, I’ve been in lots of cities, and police elsewhere just don’t have the RoboCop aura of menace that LAPD does, something that doesn’t contribute to effective policing or good relations with the public. But then, LAPD hardly ever seems concerned with that.
This kind of noxious police brutality happens every day in L.A. The only difference this time is that it was video’ed multiple times, including by tv stations, so Bratton couldn’t deny it happened. That they will launch a phony investigation where no cop is disciplined, much less goes to prison, is a given.
Express your outrage. Send a fax to L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa that Bratton be fired.
And Hell yes this is personal, some of my friends were shot at with rubber bullets and beaten.
Update: Full information now online at ANSWERLA.org
Yep. And as a former LA resident for 25 years, I can attest that the behavior gets worse when the “offenders” aren’t white. Oddly, this is true even when the officers aren’t white. Though there have been beatings of white folk from time to time (these don’t get as much press), a black or Hispanic is much more likely to find themselves eating pavement as the result of a routine traffic stop– or sometimes for no reason at all.
Bratton wasn’t “appalled,” he said the behavior was inappropriate. As I wrote on my blog, “inappropriate” is wearing sandals to a black tie wedding. This was outrageous, racist behavior. Not “inappropriate.”
And, bottom line, the source of this problem was the decision, undoubtedly involving Bratton, to send massive force to “police” a march which has proven repeatedly over the years to be completely peaceful. What were the police doing there in the first place?
Good points, Eli.
Just spoke with an ANSWER organizer in L.A., he made the excellent point that LAPD frequently acts this viciously when the protest is about immigrant rights.
Eli,
So you think it’s better that police don’t bother showing up because the last one was peaceful? What if this one isn’t? Who will the shop owners blame then, if all their stores got smashed and looted? Is that a risk you as a mayor are willing to take? You’re supposed to be protecting your people, not lowering your guard because it “seems peaceful”.
Yes, obviously putting those riot police to use was unnecessary, that’s not under debate. Having them there in the first place, though, absolutely was.
Re: LAPD attacks peaceful immigration marchers…
http://polizeros.com/2007/05/02/lapd-chief-says-inappropriate-force-used-duri……
What no one seems to realize is that they were protesting without the proper documentation…funny how that is huh? No papers…weird….anyways….
The LAPD requested that the protestors disperse, they didn’t. Some became violent, the officers acted to protect themselves and property.
Remember the LA City Riots????? Do you remember how it began PEACEFULY??? And how did it end….
Unless you are an officer of the law you cannot truly understand why officers act the way they do.
And they don’t profile by race, color, or religion. Think about it…one white, black, or Mexican person robs a store….does that mean that all people of that race or color are crooks of thieves???? NO!
This pertains to police also….
I do not agree with every action that each police officer makes, but if you group the police together and say that they are all unjust…they you are just as wrong as the next person saying that all blacks, Mexicans, or whites, are problematic in society because one person made an illegal action.
If you’re the kind of person that says “Fu*k the Police†or anything like that…..DONT call 911 when you are being robbed, or get blind sided by a drunk driver.
There have been several sets of “LA City Riots.” I presume you refer to the 1992 riots as opposed to the ones of 1965 or 1942-43. If the ’92 riots started peacefully, they didn’t stay that way long.
Also, it’s interesting to note the difference in culture (both police and general) between urban and rural areas: in LA, police presume people to be criminals until proven otherwise. In rural Utah, they presume that you’re NOT a criminal. Over Labor Day weekend, some of my city friends came to visit us. We had to call the sheriff because some wayward horses wanted to eat the trees in our yard, and two deputies came out to to our place to check it out. One of my city friends commented, “They didn’t even draw their guns!”
Here we have police at ease with the populace, despite the fact that most of us own guns. In LA, there’s a mutual mistrust between police and citizens. I won’t speculate here as to the reason, I’ll just point out that the mistrust exists in LA– and that it doesn’t exist everywhere.