Rodney King died today. For the younger readers, some quick background: In March 1991, several Los Angeles police officers beat and tasered King when he would not obey their verbal commands to lay down, put his hands behind his back, etc. (more details here). The police response was excessive, brutal, illegal, and ugly. King received much of the attention, but we ought to remember the role played by the lesser known George Holliday, the white bystander who was appalled by what he was witnessing and had the presence of mind to videotape the event. It turned out to be powerful evidence and a pivotal moment in the history of police misconduct in the United States. Replayed over and over again on network television, the scales suddenly fell (or started to) from the eyes of middle-class America. Without Holliday’s video, the event would have been buried in the LAPD files–’the subject in question, R. King, resisted arrest and was eventually subdued by officers on the scene.’ With the video, a very different story. King received several million dollars and the officers involved were held accountable for their actions–prosecuted for crimes. That was just the start of the fallout. There were riots and then a blue ribbon commission to study problems in the police department. The long time police chief, Daryl Gates, eventually lost his job.
Capturing police misconduct on tape is happening with greater frequency–thanks to smart phones–and that is making the problem harder to ignore.
For additional background, go here, here, here, and here.
Rodney King, George Holliday, and Police Misconduct is a post from PoliceMisconduct.net