KTLA News: "Criticism of methods used by police officers assigned to Chinatown" (1980)

The town in downtown Los Angeles has had a series of incidents in the past months that resulted in the assignment of additional policemen to the area in an effort to handle a growing crime problem. Today, Chinese youths representing a number of organizations criticize the methods used by the police department in Chinatown. >> These men have come down to Chinatown, as they say, to protect the businessmen and to prevent future trouble. What has happened is in numerous incidents which we have documented with names of officers and victims, the police have used profanity. They've used racist remarks calling them chinks and Chinamen. They have made threats telling them if they come down to Chinatown, they will be arrested. If they go to their neighborhood youth corps program for their summer work, they will be arrested or beaten up. Their civil rights have been violated in numerous illegal searches into their pockets, into their personal belongings. The alleged police incidents in Chinatown have not been reported to the police commission, nor to police internal affairs. Acting Chief of Police Daryl Gates commented on the charges. Well, my reaction is the same to any complaint that we receive uh about our policemen. If they have specific complaints, we will investigate them thoroughly. I would say though that this task force was formed very carefully. Uh we had Asian officers uh talk with our our task force members membershing them with the kinds of background, the type of culture that they were going to deal with so that they wouldn't make mistakes like that. and I just can't believe that what is being said is being done. >> The spokesman for the Chinese youth insisted they do not condone any form of lawlessness, but they object to the methods being used by the police department. The fact remains the businessmen have asked that police protection in Chinatown be beefed up. Additional officers have been assigned to try to cut down the number of criminal incidents recently reported. Stan Chambers reporting from Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. Chief, what is your reaction to the criticism of police procedures used in the Chinatown area? >> Too much contact with the task force to believe that their accusa accusations are accurate. >> Are there any different procedures being used here? U some of the accusations that they were being hassled out on the street, they would be examined several times. No, the only procedures are that we're providing additional protection in the Chinatown area. For for many months now, we have been we have heard of of complaints from people in the community that felt that they've been terrorized by uh youth gangs. And uh we merely wanted to provide support to uh substantial people in the community to let them know that Los Angeles Police Department has not abandoned that part of the city and we haven't. Are any different procedures being used in the Chinatown investigation chief? Chinatown situation that you've recently read about and heard about on the TV and radio stations. It's not all exactly as you represent. It's not all the watching against the duly constituted defenders of law and order. We are concerned and we're here to comment on the unbalanced presentation that we see occurring in the media. Um, first off, I want to however make a specific point. We do not condone lawlessness. We do not condone law lawless lawlessness, excuse me, in our youth as well as the constituted defenders of law and order. And we're here to comment on that. Now, what we want to do then is to essentially see the policeman presence in Chinatown to stop any of the supposed problems that we have there. But we do object strenuously to the methods that the police are using in order to solve the problem. The first thing I'd like to do then is to introduce a number who are in the audience here. uh just very quickly introduce Daphne Chin, the press I'd like to bring up today. The first is that we want to express the opinion of the youth and concerned community members in Chinatown that the manner in which the police have behaved is reprehensible and has to be corrected immediately. The second issue is something that we feel the press has not covered at all in this situation and that is the fact that the conditions which affect the youth in the Chinatown area are very poor and unless those conditions are corrected there will always be problems and crimes and trouble in Chinatown. Okay. What has happened in the last four weeks since a shooting four weeks ago July 16th at Golden Dragon restaurant in Chinatown? A task force of Metro Squad policemen have been assigned to Chinatown. There are 16 patrolmen, two sergeants, one lieutenant, and one Captain Dodson of LAPD. arrest for such things as smoking at a theater. And these arrests come without any warning. Arrest for such things as loitering when people have just come out from restaurants after eating lunch. Our position here today is we want to contrast this police repression with the problems that the youth in the Chinatown area face. problems such as the lack of jobs, the lack of English instruction programs in the high schools, the problems of a lack of a good education, the fact that teachers don't understand the youth, the studies are often irrelevant to them, the fact that recreational facilities in the Chinatown area are really inadequate, that there are very few places for the young people to go to, so they hang around on the streets. the fact that we want to increase communication with parents and other respected community leaders in the community and the fact that in the past the young people in the Chinatown community have had no voice in whatever has gone on in the community in Chinatown. Also, we want to point out that the effects of the police behavior has been to alienate and increase hatred of the police department. This does not include just the members of the watching, but it includes many youth who used to respect the police. So, by the police's own actions, they are increasing disrespect for the law. Young people are scared and young people are angry. And if this type of solution, so-called solution continues that the only prospect is for more increased violence in Chinatown. Some young people.