In Los Angeles on August 5, LAPD Chief, William J. Bratton, announced his resignation from duty. Since shortly before the beginning of Chief Bratton's tenure in 2002, the LAPD has been overseen by the federal government under the authority of a consent decree, which was put in place to stop police practices such as racial profiling. Mr Bratton is credited by many as having lowered crime rates and improved the image of the LAPD through the reforms he instituted under this decree. However, the federal oversight recently was lifted, causing some to wonder whether the reforms in the department are sustainable, especially in light of a recent ACLU report suggesting that racial profiling still exists in the LAPD. Youth Radio's Ana Beatriz interviews community members in Watts, in South L.A., to get a pulse of how people perceive the police in their neighborhood, which historically has been a site of racial tension and police violence.
I live in Watts, and you don't see the police as much as you used to, since most gangs have moved away. But a lack of police presence is not necessarily a good thing. To me, it's crazy that when we need the cops, they always turn up late or not at all. When I was smaller we had a party at my house. At around 11pm people started to fight, but it broke up after one of the men left. Afterwards, everyone went inside, but the man came back. His wife had called to warn us, so we closed the gate. However, he drove down the gate with his car and started trying to get in by banging on the windows, cursing the whole time. Out of the ten of us in the house, only three were adults. The rest were kids, and for us it was a scary experience -- I remember I was crying. We kept calling the cops, but no one came. My cousin next door even called. Still nobody came. The experience made me feel differently about the police. I felt like I couldn't count on them showing up when I really needed them, even though showing up is their job. They are supposed to keep the city safe. Ignoring our calls is not keeping the city safe. Something could have happened to one of us that day.
I asked people in South L.A. what they thought about cops in their area and most didn't like them. In particular, residents were unhappy at abuses of power such as passing through red lights and pulling people over for no reason.
This reminded me of something that had happened to my sister recently. She was driving home from work and noticed that a police car was following her. Then he stopped her. She got scared thinking that she had done something wrong. The policeman asked her for her name and for ID. But then he asked her for her phone number. Stuff like this happens a lot, and it is hard to feel safe. The cops do as they please because they have power. Other examples of abuses of power are even more serious.
I only found one person in my neighborhood who was cool with police abusing their power--he saw it as a privilege which comes with the job.
It may be the end of federal monitoring of the LAPD, but it remains to be seen how that change, and Mr Bratton's resignation, will alter police practices in Los Angeles. Here's what some residents of South L.A. had to say to the police.
To Ana "E-VA" Beatriz
Post new comment