KTLA News: "General manager of the Los Angeles Sports Arena criticizes police activity..." (1975)

shows were were just huge successes and the audiences without exception bar none were the very best behaved we've ever had here. We had no fights. We had no destruction of property, no throwing of bottles, no vandalism. It w they were just extremely well behaved and they were entitled to to better treatment. I can I can just imagine if if the same sweep were made through these grounds and on the adjacent streets at a football game, uh they'd have to arrest thousands of people on the street and in the parks. Ladies and gentlemen, you have uh copies of my to the young people of Los Angeles and the surrounding communities who came to this concert. Uh I offer my regrets uh for the harassment that they were subjected to last week during the Pink Floyd concert here at the sports arena. Uh to Jim Riss Miller and Steve Wolf, the promoters, and to uh Pink Floyd performers, uh I apologize that we couldn't provide a better setting for them. They put together an outstanding, absolutely outstanding show and uh were deserving of better treatment themselves. To the working policemen of Los Angeles, I would say that I have great appreciation for the job that you fellas do. We want your protection and your surveillance, but unfortunately uh you're directed to do some things that in my mind were just appalling. Uh, and that brings me to to the irresponsible remarks and actions of the police chief in regard to this concert last week. I watched him on television tell 500 businessmen at a downtown meeting last week that we were operating illegally without a permit and we were running a giant pot festival. Um, that's terrible. I think he cloaks himself in in statements of law and order. We're for law and order. I don't want any illegal activities to go on here. I want the laws to be enforced. And we went to great extreme to see that they were. Our our preparation for this was to get a a license from the police at their direction. And to do that, it isn't like going to get a a driver's license where you walk up and quickly get it. We had to submit an application and our credentials and say why we wanted a permit. and the the police chief in a in a side. Um it's the harassment and the massive deployment. And even even on that score by remarks coming from the police department today, they still distort the truth. They say that Pete Hagen said that there were 75 men down here. Well, if you want to know exactly how many were there, ask the mayor's police leazison representative, Easy Berts. We know how many were here. Uh it was appalling. I I don't know by what uh common sense rationale you arrive at that deployment, particularly in view of the fact that last week the chief said that uh he doesn't have enough policemen. He's working on a diminishing budget and he tells uh people to arm themselves to get guns. I don't understand that uh that line of thinking. And on guns, yes, we did have one gun taken away from a young man here last week. He had never been to the col to the coliseum or the sports arena before and he heard that it was a dangerous area. So, he bought a gun that afternoon and he still had the receipt in his pocket. So for all these statements to be made and and for you know I monitored the and in some cases they they got some marijuana and in other cases they'd get a a six-pack or others they got nothing but they were still subject subject to the search. other youngsters walking down the street that so a massive number of police were deployed down here to to that was the only trouble we had. We had five smashing successes artistically and financially. The Can you imagine repressed society or see the seeds of a police state develop. And we need only look at at the investigations of the of the CIA and the FBI lately. And in our own city, the doseier kept on thousands of citizens by the police department to know that it's a very serious thing. My I wish that the 500 businessmen who listen to the >> to your calling this conference and attacking the police department. Well, I I can uh in so far as the people at city hall are concerned, I I'm I'm sure that they're they're with us because uh they were the ones that that helped us in our moment of need. Uh um Mayor Bradley, who's a you know, an extremely busy man, had me into his office to go over the thing and he got he got deputies of his involved in it. Uh the city attorney, Bert Pines, got his people involved in it. Uh, I went to John Ferrero, who's a city councilman and on our coliseum commission, and asked him to to please intercede with the with the police chief. And u, so I I'm sure that uh that a lot of people in in city hall are are very very concerned with what happened here last week. >> Mr. Hardy, what do you think motivated Chief David? I have my own feelings, but I >> I I can't say what why he he did something. I I know that he did not want us to have concerts down here at all and uh placed roadblocks in our path for the year and a half that I've been here and and trying to bring concerts here. You know, we did not have the uh the big attractive uh concerts here that the the other buildings had. and and for a year and a half, we've been after the the responsible promoters to please bring their their shows down here. And uh at every turn, we ran into uh to uh obstruction by the police chief. Now, he says that he wants uh concerts. He he likes them. He he um wants them to to be held, but actions speak louder than deeds. And you know whether I can't speak for the chief >> Mr. Do you disagree with that? I mean do you think he was going beyond his responsibility? No, definitely his responsibility is to uh is to keep crime out of the streets. And if if detaining um hundreds of of innocent kids and separating them from their friends uh who were not arrested is keeping crime out of the streets, then I've got a misconception of of crime in the streets. >> Mr. party. We were with Chief Davis a few minutes ago is the manner in which they went about policing this particular thing and to me the intent was clear and it was effective. >> Mr. said that there were 75 >> Mr. I'd be interested to know what kind of feedback your office has that it hangs on the wall in uh in our manager's office over here. If in fact you don't have any more uh concerts here,