Judge’s Ruling on Chief Gates
As a 34-year veteran of the LAPD, I have a problem with Sgt. Koon’s rationale. He states that an LAPD cop “buys into a system rich in moral and ethical standards,” but if it had not been for Koon’s (at least momentary) ineptitude in dealing with moral and ethical standards, the King incident would not have occurred.
Upon viewing of the King tape I found myself asking, “My God! Who is in charge and why doesn’t he put a stop to it?” As the supervisor at the scene, Koon failed to take the action necessary to uphold the high standards LAPD has strived to stand for during the last 40 years.
Gates is not “floundering.” He’s trying to bring the LAPD through the King incident, for which I personally hold Koon accountable until the evidence presented at his disciplinary hearing proves otherwise.
The only reason LAPD/Gates is under such extreme public exposure, in my opinion, is due to Koon’s failure as a field supervisor to prevent what we’ve all seen too many times on the King videotape.
LT. WARREN KNOWLES, Van Nuys
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
