KTLA News: "Press conference on the LAPD and the black community" (1979)

[Silence]. [Man at microphone] The point that I'm not sure we were heard on... and I made and, and, and I want to make this clear but it is our point that there's no reason for the police department to be fearful of input from our community. That alone... shows a lack of a proper understanding of the role our community should play in the policing of our community. [Silence]. [Man at microphone] Okay, my statement will be very brief and what we will attempt to do is answer questions that you might have regarding the two meetings which took place this morning. The first meeting was with the District Attorney Van de Kamp and the second meeting, of course, was with Chief Gates uh...here. Our concern primarily in this meeting had to do, number one, with where we are in the Eula Love... case. What is being done? Um... and we, we did receive some input into that. Beyond that we raise a number of other issues which dealt with such things as their attitudes and position on Police Review Board on the use of alternative weapons... um... value system, system of evaluating the officers, uhm... implementation of policies and what they do about officers and who involved in the repeated use of of the gun. We indicated our strong feeling that our community is still grieved, it still, has a feeling that... again the violation of human life and the low value that this society sometime attempts to place on Black life has occurred again and that also this is a pattern of a an escalated kind of behavior uh... here in the Los Angeles community and within this country as a whole. And it was against this background that we, that we discussed the matters in these two meetings. So that's basically all I have to say in terms of a statement. I'll be happy to answer any questions. [Reporter] Might there be a reopening of the investigation? Or any further looking into what happened? Any updates...? [Man at microphone] Well, we were advised by the Police Chief that the Commission is doing some work itself and that at the conclusion of that reporting we'll have some definite idea whether there's any new information available. We were told by District Attorney Van de Kamp that if any additional information was available that they would...that was indictable, that they would reopen the case. [Reporter] Anything said in the two meetings that would put your mind at ease a little bit more? Policy changes might come forth from this? [Man at microphone] Let me just put it like this. I don't know anything that could be said that would put our minds at ease. We might be looking at what might be done. I think something done might give us a new willingness to try to reconsider our position because one of the things that we raised in these meetings, and I think you should know that, is that we have offered to help. We do not feel... that we have gotten much help from the District Attorney's office or from the Police Department in terms of our willingness to help try to break down some of these problems in the confrontation relationship that seems to exist between the Department and our community. And frankly speaking. uh, John Mack and Paul Hudson and myself, I mean, we have always had the position that we were willing to work when there was an opportunity to work. We offered certain suggestions such as... some kind of broad-based community committee that evaluated officers who are going to work in our communities. So that we could have something really serious to say more than just... I'm not talking about one person on a committee where actually your voice or the weight of your vote is very limited. But I'm talking about a committee that is specifically of the community itself. Designed to help this department evaluate who they send into our communities and I think that the Department is basically afraid of that kind of approach. I mean in...we took the position that the police officer is an individual who comes out of the community, to serve the community and to protect the community. And, therefore, there is no reason that there should be any fear that relationship between the community and officer. [Reporter] How would you characterize the relationship between... [Silence]. [Reporter]...you got the standard... [Reporter] On one point that interested me, you said you got the standard policy statement on a civilian review board for the Police Department from the Chief in the community being involved in the initial examination for officers? [Man at microphone] We discussed that at some length and he pointed out those situations in which some individuals do participate. I do not think he perceived of our participation at the same level that I perceive of it because I perceive of it as persons like uh...maybe uh...... not just John Mack, myself, preachers, community people on the street actually having some input because many times we can look at a person and say, "Hey, this guy...no way this guy's gonna work out in our community. We can see is attitude coming through right now." There are ways in which questions can be asked and determined that this guy has no business in the community. And even if in the evaluation process we should be overruled and then later on we had to evaluate the behavior of that individual we would at least have something to go on which would help us to adjust policy in the future. ...but if you get (?) out to basics, I think that the control of policing in our community, should be our control. [Paul Hudson?] Bottom line... uh... I just...that's clearly...I don't think...