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American Morning

Interview with Daryl Gates, Former LAPD Chief

Aired April 29, 2002 - 09:51   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Today, of course, marks the anniversary of a grim chapter in American history. It was 10 years ago today, Los Angeles exploded in violent rage. The city erupted after four white police officers were acquitted in the beating of motorist Rodney King. The riots that followed caused than a billion dollars in damage. 55 people died, hundreds of others were injured.

President Bush will be in Los Angeles today to mark the anniversary, and 10 years ago, it was Daryl Gates who was the LA police chief, and he joins us this morning to take a look back.

Good morning. Good to see you again.

DARYL GATES, FORMER CHIEF, LAPD: Paula it is tough to look back. As a matter of fact, it really is.

ZAHN: Well, I imagine now that you've had the benefit of reading all these investigations of what went wrong, there must be some things that haunt you to this today. Do you have any regrets about ...

GATES: There is no question about it. One of the things that haunts me is what happened to a guy that was pulled out of a truck and badly beaten, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not respond. We were the most aggressive police department in the country, and suddenly we didn't respond the way we should have.

ZAHN: Why?

GATES: Well, I can't answer that. I wish I could. I look back, and say, why didn't we the leadership provide the leadership that was necessary. But in some areas of the city, it just wasn't provided. Police officers wanted to go out, but some of their leaders just were reluctant to push them out there. And I think some of it was they did not want to appear to be overly aggressive. I had been accused of being overly aggressive for a whole year. And I think they were looking to be chief, maybe, and they just did not want to pull up. Plus, there was a politician that stood up and said, we've instructed the police not to move in too aggressively. I think all of that combined, plus a whole year of really beating the Los Angeles Police Department as well as the Rodney King situation, the Los Angeles Police Department was beaten over and over and over again. Called all kinds of things, and so I think there was really that hesitancy that was -- shouldn't be in a riotous situation. ZAHN: But as you know, there was this extensive investigation done by William Webster, and he put out this report, and as you know, essentially put the blame squarely on your shoulders and city hall leaders, who they accused of not planning appropriately for the possibility of riots prior to the verdicts in the Rodney King case. Let me read what William Webster also wrote. He said that "this city is plagued by hostility, rage, and resentment in many areas where minorities and economically deprived citizens believe the LAPD did not treat them with respect or extend the same level of protection as elsewhere. It could happen again."

First of all, what did you think of the results of that investigation?

GATES: Well, I thought it was a very poor investigation, quite frankly. William Webster has never handled a riot in his life, and neither has Hubert Williams. They have -- they know nothing about riots. I was talked to for -- believe me one hour. I got one hour from that -- that whole committee. That's all they talked to me. One hour.

ZAHN: That was it.

GATES: That was it. That was it. And I think -- you know, we have dealt with the community over and over again. We've done our very, very best. We've done -- we made all the changes that were necessary that people said we should do. Our department was the most diverse department you will find anywhere in the country. We talked to human relations, race relations, we had community counsels in every community. We did all the things that were necessary.

We had behind us the majority of the public saying, hey, we want you to do something about the gangs, we want you to do something about the drug pushers on our streets. The black community, for example, wanted us in that community. And it -- you know, when I look back, I say, I really believe -- and I think anyone that would look at the Los Angeles Police Department in those days would say it was the best police department in the world.

We had one incident. We had Rodney King incident, and as -- you called him a motorist. Rodney King was an ex-felon. He was on parole. He was driving down the freeway at 95 miles an hour, endangering people. He would not stop for the highway patrol. He stopped, finally, for us, and we used a baton. We used a club, a prehistoric instrument, that was provided to them. Something I objected to, and was forced upon me. And no matter how you use a club, it going to appear to be a beating. And yes, they did beat him more than they should have. There is no question about that.

ZAHN: Now, you find yourself in a situation -- you are going through the process of submitting an application to become the police chief again. I mean, what is the possibility, given the diversity, you say, of the department that this could happen again? I mean, there are a lot of people within the LAPD and the Los Angeles community that feel that there is a lot of racial tension. GATES: Well, if you look at the Los Angeles Police Department, it has gone downhill ever since I left. Ten years, and it's dysfunctional. It reached the point where it is dysfunctional. The morale is in the pits, it's just horrible, and I wanted to return it to the pride that people had in that organization, that the people within the organization had as the best police department in the world. I can do that. I can bring the morale up.

ZAHN: What are the chances that they are going to pick you...

GATES: Well...

ZAHN: Well --

GATES: I have no idea what the chances are. Probably pretty slim. Probably -- you know, I brought this as a gift for you. It's called a Scorpion. And it's a personal self-defense weapon, and I wanted you to have it, but there's another story to this.

There's a police -- there's a police model, and had the officers in the Rodney King affair had one of these instead of a damn club, they could have put him on the ground very, very quickly, handcuffed him, and it would have been all over. And remember, there were two others in that car. Somebody this was a racial incident. It wasn't. There were two others, who were black, in that car, who were taken into custody with no problem whatsoever.

ZAHN: May I never have to use this.

GATES: I hope you never have to. We will send you a video that will tell you how to stay out of harm's way, but if you get in harm's way, boy, this is the weapon to use. Not a weapon. It's a device.

ZAHN: All right. We are going to have to leave it there.

GATES: The Scorpion.

ZAHN: Mr. Gates, we will following you as you go through the process to try to...

GATES: Thank you.

ZAHN: end up being police chief again.

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