1992 Los Angeles Riots Essay

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The "1992 Los Angeles riots occurred on April 29th, 1992 at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles"12, shortly after the acquittal of the four accused officers. The public was in awe after the acquittal of the officers, despite blatant video proof in defense of Rodney (George Holliday recorded video). The citizens revolted as a result as it was evident that the justice system was biased towards law enforcement. In other words, it "showed that African Americans could not rely on the mainstream media press to change their public stance on theories about race and civil society"13. The horrific violence outbreak lasted several days and as result "53 deaths, 10,000 arrests, 2,300 injuries more than 100 buildings …show more content…

Additionally, this caused in-depth investigation on police brutality within the LA police department were police Chief Daryl Gates and Chief Parker (former police chief) received tremendous pressure and investigations. Founding's showed that throughout Parker "sixteen-year tenure the LAPD escalated its war against the black community"15 as a history of police brutality towards blacks were found. Consequently, on "April 2nd Mayor Bradley called upon on police Chief Daryl Gates to resign after similar findings and due to the public's distaste for Chief Daryl"16. Furthermore, as a result of Chief Daryl resigning the LAPD has "seen a significant reduction in crime rates"17. As a result, a decrease in racial tension between blacks and LAPD officers (somewhat) has occurred. Secondly, under the new hired "police chief in William Bratton, the LAPD incorporated new diverse hiring practices, where they focused on hiring more minorities"18. Furthermore, as the 1992 violent outbreak of the LA riots occurred, Rodney King's beating led to an increasing awareness of trials locations and the implementation of more diversity

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