Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991 TAG: 9103150270
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Thornburgh announced the review after two members of the Congressional Black Caucus urged a wider probe of the Los Angeles police. The FBI already was investigating the incident in which three white officers were videotaped beating the motorist.
The attorney general ordered the department's Civil Rights Division to review all complaints of police brutality the department has received from across the nation in the last six years "to discern whether any pattern of misconduct is apparent."
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the caucus, had asked the Justice Department to expand its investigation of the March 3 beating of Rodney King to review other allegations of brutality against Los Angeles police.
Conyers said there was ample evidence that King's beating was not an aberration but a product of a "culture of violence" on the Los Angeles force.
"If we cannot protect citizens against the kind of videotaped violence that occurred in Los Angeles that night, then we are a nation in jeopardy," Conyers said.
There were indications that Thornburgh had ordered a review of complaints against police nationwide to avoid giving the appearance of singling out Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that four police officers were indicted on Thursday. The indictments were sealed and specific allegations and number of charges issued by the grand jury were not known, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
The indicted officers were ordered to surrender in court this afternoon, according to unidentified defense attorneys and an unidentified law enforcement source, the newspaper said.
Thornburgh also ordered the National Institute of Justice to study whether there is a correlation between brutality and the lack of proper training and effective internal discipline.
"Those engaged in law enforcement must be among the first to assure the observance of the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens," he said.
King's beating, which was videotaped by a passerby, was televised nationwide and has prompted calls by civil rights and community leaders for the resignation of Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates.
In Los Angeles, Gates, who has refused to step aside, sat grim-faced Thursday at a meeting of the city's police commission as politicians and civil rights leaders demanded his resignation.
Curtis Tucker, a Democratic state legislator, asked Gates: "How long will this go on? It is not an aberration. What is amazing is that we were lucky enough to have it recorded on tape."
The FBI, meanwhile, is conducting what Director William Sessions called a "vigorous, priority, civil rights investigation" of the March 3 incident.
Conyers said he expected the number of complaints against Los Angeles police will "shoot up dramatically" because citizens have not known that they could complain or that their grievances would be taken seriously.
by CNB