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CNN Live Today
Interview With Ronald Banks
Aired July 30, 2003 - 11:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well race was rarely mentioned during the trial, but the images of a white police officer slamming a black teenager on top a police cruiser led to outrage around the nation. Ronald Banks is Inglewood's police chief and he's joining us live now from southern California. Chief Banks, good morning, thanks for being with us this morning.
CHIEF RONALD BANKS, INGLEWOOD POLICE: Good morning to you.
KAGAN: As I understand it, you yourself testified during this trial. And you testified that Jeremy Morse's actions were unnecessary and unreasonable. And in light of that, what do you think of this lack of a verdict?
BANKS: Well, I'm not particularly surprised in that there are several opinions about the use of force from legal experts, as well as citizens. And after the jury deliberated for quite some time, the fact that the jury hung was not a particular surprise to me in that everybody has an opinion about what they saw.
KAGAN: But do you think there should be a retrial of Jeremy Morse?
BANKS: I'm not going to be presumptuous to basically have an opinion about a decision that Mr. Cooley, the district attorney, has to make. The Inglewood Police Department has been dealing with the situation for over a year, and whatever decisions are made out of our control we have reacted to it, I think, in a proper and professional manner. And whatever decision is made by the district attorney we'll have to do so also in this case.
KAGAN: Jeremy Morse has been let go by your department but the other officer who was on trial here, Bijan Darvish, he was found not guilty on charges of filing a false police report. He still is an employee and an officer with your department.
BANKS: Yes, he is.
KAGAN: And his brother is quoted in "The L.A. Times" today saying that his brother, Officer Darvish, cannot wait to get back on the streets. Will he be back patrolling the streets of Inglewood? And do you think that's a good idea?
BANKS: That decision has not yet been made. Obviously we just got the result yesterday. Officer Darvish has always been assigned to the patrol bureau. He has obviously been restricted in his duties because of the pending charges against him. Now that those charges have been dismissed, we will meet with Officer Darvish, we'll meet with his supervisors and we'll make a decision in terms of the most appropriate assignment to again give the best service to the community, as well as protect Officer Darvish who is a highly visible figure now.
KAGAN: Well he might not have been guilty in the eyes of the law, but what about in your department? Will there be other disciplinary actions for his actions in this case?
BANKS: The disciplinary action in regard to Officer Darvish, as well as former Officer Morse, has already been completed by the department. And there is no further discipline pending in this matter.
KAGAN: And what was Officer Darvish's discipline in this case?
BANKS: Because of the individual rights of an officer, I'm not going to discuss specifically what discipline was meted out. And, as I say, that would be in violation of Officer Darvish's rights. But discipline was imposed and, as I said, it's been completed.
KAGAN: Let's talk about some good news. Your community was peaceful overnight. There was certainly a lot of concern that perhaps things could get out of hand given the news of the verdict. And yet I know there was a lot of work that went in not just by your department but the LAPD as well trying to prevent any flare-up of activity in light of the verdict.
BANKS: Well I couldn't be any more please as chief of police and prior to the verdict being rendered I was very, very confident that this community would come across as it did with no violence. We did not have one radio call since the verdict has been rendered that dealt with any negative effects of the verdict.
And, as I said, I was confident of that because of all the help we got. We got help from the Department Of justice, city and county Human Relations, the peacekeepers that were out on the streets that have been heavily covered by the media. And that made our job, in terms of a police department and law enforcement, much easier.
So there was a lot of work that went into it. There was a lot of help that we had. And I feel very, very fortunate that the community, as well as the groups that I've mentioned, came forward and helped us get through this phase of this particular incident.
KAGAN: And would you say there's still more work to be done in healing the relations between the Inglewood Police Department and the community?
BANKS: The Inglewood community we've been talking to since this incident first happened. And I think the relationship with this department and the community that we serve, is as good as it's ever been. The community looked at this incident as not indicative of the caliber of service we give on a day-to-day basis. Again, I think... KAGAN: That's not what a lot of the protesters were saying, sir. A lot of the protesters were saying that this is indicative that you could have white officers beating up a black youth and that there's no repercussions. So how did you make those relations better?
BANKS: Well, again, I don't think that all the protesters speak for the community, quite frankly. There are people that have vested interest in saying a lot of things. And it's America and we have freedom of speech and people are entitled to their opinions.
I'm not discounting the fact that there are people incensed by this verdict. But you asked about my relationship with the Inglewood community. An I think if you talk to the community, what I've characterized as our positive relationship will hold true.
KAGAN: Well we wish you good luck with that, as well as keeping the peace in Inglewood. Chief Ronald Banks, Chief, thanks for joining us. We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.
BANKS: Thank you for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 30, 2003 - 11:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well race was rarely mentioned during the trial, but the images of a white police officer slamming a black teenager on top a police cruiser led to outrage around the nation. Ronald Banks is Inglewood's police chief and he's joining us live now from southern California. Chief Banks, good morning, thanks for being with us this morning.
CHIEF RONALD BANKS, INGLEWOOD POLICE: Good morning to you.
KAGAN: As I understand it, you yourself testified during this trial. And you testified that Jeremy Morse's actions were unnecessary and unreasonable. And in light of that, what do you think of this lack of a verdict?
BANKS: Well, I'm not particularly surprised in that there are several opinions about the use of force from legal experts, as well as citizens. And after the jury deliberated for quite some time, the fact that the jury hung was not a particular surprise to me in that everybody has an opinion about what they saw.
KAGAN: But do you think there should be a retrial of Jeremy Morse?
BANKS: I'm not going to be presumptuous to basically have an opinion about a decision that Mr. Cooley, the district attorney, has to make. The Inglewood Police Department has been dealing with the situation for over a year, and whatever decisions are made out of our control we have reacted to it, I think, in a proper and professional manner. And whatever decision is made by the district attorney we'll have to do so also in this case.
KAGAN: Jeremy Morse has been let go by your department but the other officer who was on trial here, Bijan Darvish, he was found not guilty on charges of filing a false police report. He still is an employee and an officer with your department.
BANKS: Yes, he is.
KAGAN: And his brother is quoted in "The L.A. Times" today saying that his brother, Officer Darvish, cannot wait to get back on the streets. Will he be back patrolling the streets of Inglewood? And do you think that's a good idea?
BANKS: That decision has not yet been made. Obviously we just got the result yesterday. Officer Darvish has always been assigned to the patrol bureau. He has obviously been restricted in his duties because of the pending charges against him. Now that those charges have been dismissed, we will meet with Officer Darvish, we'll meet with his supervisors and we'll make a decision in terms of the most appropriate assignment to again give the best service to the community, as well as protect Officer Darvish who is a highly visible figure now.
KAGAN: Well he might not have been guilty in the eyes of the law, but what about in your department? Will there be other disciplinary actions for his actions in this case?
BANKS: The disciplinary action in regard to Officer Darvish, as well as former Officer Morse, has already been completed by the department. And there is no further discipline pending in this matter.
KAGAN: And what was Officer Darvish's discipline in this case?
BANKS: Because of the individual rights of an officer, I'm not going to discuss specifically what discipline was meted out. And, as I say, that would be in violation of Officer Darvish's rights. But discipline was imposed and, as I said, it's been completed.
KAGAN: Let's talk about some good news. Your community was peaceful overnight. There was certainly a lot of concern that perhaps things could get out of hand given the news of the verdict. And yet I know there was a lot of work that went in not just by your department but the LAPD as well trying to prevent any flare-up of activity in light of the verdict.
BANKS: Well I couldn't be any more please as chief of police and prior to the verdict being rendered I was very, very confident that this community would come across as it did with no violence. We did not have one radio call since the verdict has been rendered that dealt with any negative effects of the verdict.
And, as I said, I was confident of that because of all the help we got. We got help from the Department Of justice, city and county Human Relations, the peacekeepers that were out on the streets that have been heavily covered by the media. And that made our job, in terms of a police department and law enforcement, much easier.
So there was a lot of work that went into it. There was a lot of help that we had. And I feel very, very fortunate that the community, as well as the groups that I've mentioned, came forward and helped us get through this phase of this particular incident.
KAGAN: And would you say there's still more work to be done in healing the relations between the Inglewood Police Department and the community?
BANKS: The Inglewood community we've been talking to since this incident first happened. And I think the relationship with this department and the community that we serve, is as good as it's ever been. The community looked at this incident as not indicative of the caliber of service we give on a day-to-day basis. Again, I think... KAGAN: That's not what a lot of the protesters were saying, sir. A lot of the protesters were saying that this is indicative that you could have white officers beating up a black youth and that there's no repercussions. So how did you make those relations better?
BANKS: Well, again, I don't think that all the protesters speak for the community, quite frankly. There are people that have vested interest in saying a lot of things. And it's America and we have freedom of speech and people are entitled to their opinions.
I'm not discounting the fact that there are people incensed by this verdict. But you asked about my relationship with the Inglewood community. An I think if you talk to the community, what I've characterized as our positive relationship will hold true.
KAGAN: Well we wish you good luck with that, as well as keeping the peace in Inglewood. Chief Ronald Banks, Chief, thanks for joining us. We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.
BANKS: Thank you for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
