The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 16, 1992- Page;5
Gates says beating 'could happen anywhere'
GATES
Continued from page 1
done. But somehow, some of the ac-
tivists, the so- called leadership, has
sent the word that l' man ogre, and I'm
not.
Some of the kids come to these
meetings believing in it. You know
they don't have to accept anything I
say and they can reject it the moment
they walk out, but it would just be nice
if they listened before they reject it and
allow everyone else to listen. Thatjust
seems to me to be the way we do things
in a civilized society. It's all right to
protest, but when your right to protest
infringes ontherightsofothers,you've
gone too far. In some cases that's what
happens.
Daily: You said that you've done a
lot for the African American comnu-
nity. I want to bring up the issue of the
Rodney King beating. There was an
incident that occurred last week in
Detroit with a man named Malice
Green ...
Gates: (Laughs) It's not funny at
all, but from my point of view it's just
a little bit amusing because during the
time of Rodney King, IDetroit was
saying it could never happen there.
And it can happen anywhere.
Daily: So do you think there's a
problem in, police departnents that
white police officers might be harsher
on African Americans?
Gates: Well we keep pandering to
that philosophy and I just tell you
there's no foundation for that at all.
We look for it all the time. I'm not
saying there are not racist officers.
You will find racist officers, both Black
and white within an organization. You
will find brutal officers both Black
* and white in each organization. It isn't
something exclusive to one group....
The problem is -and we've never
been able to find a solution to the real
problem - we select people for police
work from the general population.
They 'are human beings. We haven't
been able to find the perfect speci-
mens to be police officers. And so they
come with some of the frailties that
exist in human beings. And the stresses
of the job sometimes brine out these
frailties. People do things that they
ought not to.
I'm not assessing any blame in
Detroit because I don't know the facts
for that. I have no idea. I think an awful
lot of people jumped to conclusions
without a thorough investigation. I
don't know how fai' along that investi-
gation is now, but 1 know I was very
disappointed with thechief because he
susplended (the officers) the day after-
ward You can't conduct an investiga-
'I've been dealing with the media for all those years. I know how1
stories go out, and it would have been easy for me to have done
something like the chief in Detroit and suspended all of the offic
said nasty things about them before I knew the facts. But that's n
right. That's not the right thing to do. It's not what we do in Ame
don't believe. We try to find out the facts before we begin the pro
of destroying somebody's reputation.'
-- Dar
former Los Angeles pot
tion that quickly.
Daily: Do you think he perhaps
suspended them the day afterward
because of all the publicity from the
Los Angeles situation'?
Gates: You know, one of the things
a chief has to do - and I know its
tough because I know I've had to face
it - you have to do not what's politi-
cally correct, you have to do what's
right. Too many chiefs today are bow-
ing towhat ispolitically correct.That's
what the chief did in Detroit.
I've been dealing with the media
for all those years. I know how the
stories go out, and it would have been
easy for me to have done something
like the chief in Detroit and suspended
all of the officers and said nasty things
about them before I knew the facts.
But that's not right. That's not the
right thing to do. It's not what we do in
America, I don't believe. We try to
find out the facts before we begin the
process of destroying somebody's
reputation.
I read in (USA Today) the other
day about Detroit. They had a little
paragraph in there that said the way
Detroit was handling it is so different
from the way that Daryl Gates handled
it in Los Angeles. It said Daryl Gates
supported the officers. That's not thue.
All I said was that the officers were
deserving of their case being heard
and they were deserving of having a
full investigation before we came to
any conclusions. Again, I think that's
the fair thing to do, I think that's the
right thing to do ...
I've tried to be a boss that is under-
standing, and fair. ... My record of
discipline is probably the harshest of
anywhere in the United States. My
officers don't like it, but they know I
only take harsh discipline when the
officer is wrong. I don't jump to con-
clusions, I give them a fair hearing,
and once I find out they're wrong -
boom.
Daily: So would you call the judi-
cial procedure that followed the
Rodney King beating fair?
Gates: Well l've been in this busi-
ness 43 years. I've seen a lot of guilty
people go free, but I've never trashed
the system.... I think it's aconvoluted
system. I think the ACL U1 has made it
a convoluted system. It's ironic be-
cause probably the ACIALU has been in
the forefront of establishing some of
the evidentiary procedures that resulted
in the prosecution not perhaps bring-
ing into court some of the things they
.would have like to have brought in
during the Rodney King thing. Now
they're complaining because the jury
didn'tcome out with what they thought
was the politically-correct decision.
Very few people sat and listened to
the evidence as it was being presented.
l'he jury did. Very few people realize
that the burden of proof is an ext'aor-
dinarily tough one -- beyond a rea-
sonable doubt. And in this case, what
the public saw was only partial. The
tape that they saw was only a partial
tape. ... They did not know what was
in the mind of the officers. They saw
the act and a criminal conviction re-
quires an act and intent. You have to
prove both.
Daily: So what about the jury? The
jury was predominately white, and the
venue was changed to a predominantly
white neighborhood. Do you think
there could have been a little bit of
racism in the decision the jury made'?
Gates: Well, once again, 1 think
the judge is a very strong judge. He
was the person who selected thejury.
We've got things mixed up. A person
has a right to be tried by a jury of their
peers. Now suddenly we want to
change all of that and say, "Well. now
wait a minute we should have had
some other folks in there. And if we
have other folks in there, maybe the
result would be different."Well. maybe
it would and maybe it wouldn't. I think
people are so bad when they don't
know what the facts are, and they sit
back and say some of the jurors were
racist. I-ow can you do that'? Where's
the fairness in doing that'? ... People
a'e operating on emotion rather than
fact and it is not right -- particularly
African Americans. I think there is a
lot of diversity within Afri
cans. They do not all think
fortunately. some of the
wafts then to think alike.
One of those things I
time to do, is sit down wi
these kids in a small gr(
them just come out with al
cism and all their fire ai
anger and let me deal with
to doing that. I do it on theI
time. I'm really enjoyin
look for all of the nasty c
finding on my radio shll
chance to talk with people
inquire into why it is th
certain way and thell chal
of that. 've found. fo' tht
almost without exception.
by saying, "Well chief,
you re a lot di ffemrent tha
you were. I thought you w
pig when I called and I
going to chew you out, b
different opinion about yo
Daily: low much d4
working at the radio station?
Gates: Oh, I couldn't tell you. In
the the contract it requires that I cannot
tell anyone.
ers and Daily: How about your speaking
engagements'?
lot Gates: I don't think that's some-
rica, I thing I should share with you. I don't
cess know what the policy of the university
is and so I kind of have to leave that to
the university.... Keep in mind that
yI GateS all the time I was in public service, I
ice Chief made literally thousands of speeches
and I' ve never, never accepted an hono-
rariun or any money for anything....
My salary was it.
icanr Amen- Daily: Do you think you'd be able
k alike. lhi~ to make as much money now on a
leadership speaking tour and on the radio ii'
Rodney King had never been beaten
wish I had andyouhad neverreceived thepublic-
ith some of ity associated with the riots'?
)up and let Gates: Well I don't know. I don't
I their criti- think there's anyway to make that judg-
rid all their ment. I had some fame before. Maybe
it. I'm used not quite as much, but at least it was a
radio all the much more positive fame. I think I
g that. We could have still gone to university cam-
alls.a... I'm puses, and I still could have been in
w, I get a demand, and the reception would have
, and really been a hell of a lot nicer.
iey think a
lenge some
n mst part S thig' o yor
they end up d d
you know,
n I thought
ere a racistWMhy
was really 4
aut I have a
au now., " A n " , 4 "0
o you earln
Michigan
alumni work
here:
Tme
Chicago Tribune
Lexington
Herald-Leader
New York Times
Washington Post
CBS Radio
because they
worked here:
The
Michigan
Daily
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