RE: Why break with tradition?
Posted on: April 3, 2020 at 13:58:41 CT
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LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A policeman involved in the beating of an unarmed black motorist told another officer he hadn’t ″beaten anyone this bad in a long time,″ according to a transcript released Monday.
″You just had a big time use of force,″ Sgt. Stacey Koon told a police dispatcher after the beating of Rodney G. King after a car chase March 3.
The transcript released by the Police Department contains messages between the officers transmitted by portable computers in their squad cars.
A police official investigating the assault also said officers sent a computer message that may involve a racially edged remark, making a joke about the film ″Gorillas in the Mist.″
The ″Gorillas in the Mist″ remark apparently referred to a description of a domestic trouble call that happened prior to the arrest of King. The computer message was sent from a squad car carrying two of the officers charged in the case. The message was sent 16 minutes before the pursuit that resulted in the arrest and beating of King.
Koon and three other officers were indicted in the beating, which was videotaped by a resident from his balcony and shown nationwide on television news shows. The message was sent from a squad car carrying two of the officers charged in the case.
After a report that officers were in pursuit of a white Hyundai refusing to yield, there was a pause of approximately nine minutes in the transcript, at which point a report from Koon came in, saying, ″You just had a big-time use of force ... tazed and beat the suspect of CHP pursuit, big time.″
The response from headquarters was, ″Oh well ... I’m sure the lizard didn’t deserve it ... ha ha I’ll let them know OK.″
Koon responded, ″I’m gonna drop by the station for a fresh Taser and darts ... please have the desk have one ready.″
A Taser is a stun device that uses darts.
A minute later, a message was received from a police car occupied by Officers Laurence Powell and Timothy Wind. The message was simply: ″Oops.″
Another unit responded, ″Oops what?″
A minute later the response came: ″I haven’t beaten anyone this bad in a long time.″
To that, the second unit said, ″Oh not again ... why for you do that. ... I thought you agreed to chill out for awhile ... what did he do?″