Blacks Back Local Police, L.A. Poll Says

Despite a rash of racially explosive episodes in recent years, blacks in Los Angeles voice overwhelming satisfaction with their local police, according to a survey released Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department.

In fact, although the survey of a dozen cities around the country found that blacks are less likely than whites to be satisfied with the police, the racial divide is smaller in Los Angeles than the average for all the cities.

The federal survey--the first of its kind in 20 years--found that 82% of blacks polled in the city of Los Angeles last year said they were satisfied with police serving their neighborhoods, compared with 89% of whites and 86% citywide. Nationwide, the overall satisfaction rate for all respondents was 85%.

The findings surprised experts and community activists in a city where minorities have clashed repeatedly with police over such controversies as the Rodney G. King beating, the 1992 riots, the O.J. Simpson trials, allegations of racial profiling and, in the most recent imbroglio, last month’s fatal shooting by police of a homeless black woman.

“That’s an impressive percentage,” John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, said of blacks’ satisfaction level, “frankly, higher than I would have expected.”

The findings are more perplexing still because the survey also found that Los Angeles’ blacks, for all their positive attitudes toward police, said they were victims of violence nearly twice as often as whites.

The rate of violent crimes reported in Los Angeles--65 reports per 1,000 residents--was slightly lower than the national average. For L.A. blacks, however, there were 114 reports of violence per 1,000 residents.

Decline of ‘Cowboy Mentality’ Observed

The recent controversy over the shooting death of Margaret LaVerne Mitchell, the homeless woman killed by police two weeks ago, has exacerbated tensions between minorities and the Los Angeles Police Department, said Royce W. Esters, president of a Compton-based group called the National Assn. for Equal Justice in America.

“Lately, it seems like it’s been them against us,” he said.

The Justice Department survey would not reflect any impact of that incident because the study was conducted in 1998.

But other civic leaders said the survey’s high levels of satisfaction with local police--across racial lines--may reflect the continuing decline in crime, better civilian police oversight, progress in community policing and improved leadership in the department, first under former Chief Willie L. Williams and now under his successor, Chief Bernard C. Parks.

Parks “is viewed as someone who will objectively investigate and review police problems,” said Danny Bakewell of Los Angeles, president of a black activist group called the Brotherhood Crusade. “We don’t have as many officers with that cowboy mentality like we did under [former] Chief Daryl Gates.”

The Justice Department performs an annual survey on crime victimization nationwide, but Thursday’s report was the first in 20 years to feature a more detailed analysis of selected cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego and 10 others. Nearly 14,000 people were surveyed over four months, including 1,121 people in Los Angeles. The poll, which had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, broke down the results for blacks and whites, but not for other racial groups.

The survey revealed a far more positive attitude toward police from Los Angeles’ black community than past polls have. A Los Angeles Times poll earlier this year, for example, found just a 48% approval rating for the LAPD among blacks.

The discrepancy may in large part reflect the different wording of the questions on the two surveys. The Justice Department survey asked respondents about their satisfaction with police in their own neighborhoods, while the Times survey asked about job performance of the LAPD in general--a distinction that often leads to differences in polls.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., releasing the survey in Washington, said that--although he was encouraged by the positive attitudes toward law enforcement--he was troubled by the fact that 24% of blacks nationwide said they were dissatisfied with their local police. For whites, the figure was 10%.

Police officials should recognize that “there is still too great a gulf between the views of the minority community and white residents,” he said. The gap was smaller in Los Angeles, with 18% of blacks and 11% of whites saying they were dissatisfied with the police.

Justice Department officials said they saw the survey results as a solid endorsement of community policing--an idea that is a favorite of Atty. Gen. Janet Reno in pushing for police to become more connected to the neighborhoods they serve.

Many residents in the 12 surveyed cities said they have noticed more of a presence by police in their communities through officers working with youth, attending community meetings or conducting more visible patrols.

Asked about various experiences and attitudes involving crime and security, Los Angeles residents generally gave answers in line with those of the other 11 cities surveyed.

A slight majority of 56%, for instance, said they are not fearful of crime in their neighborhoods, 2 points below the national average. And, as in the rest of the country, robbery and an assault with a gun were the two most common crime fears among Los Angeles residents.

Three-Fourths of L.A. Attacks by Strangers

But Los Angeles did fall outside national norms in some notable areas:

* The attacker in three of every four violent crimes in Los Angeles was reported to be a stranger--higher than in any other city surveyed. LAPD Cmdr. David J. Kalish said the sprawling, mobile nature of the city, along with random acts of gang violence, may help explain the troubling phenomenon.

* Violent crimes against men outnumbered those against women by more than 2 to 1 in Los Angeles, and women here were far less likely than women elsewhere in the country to be victims of reported violent crimes.

* Los Angeles residents often appeared more willing to take precautions against crime than did people in the other cities. Local residents were more likely--in the previous year--to have bought a guard dog (25%), added automatic lighting at home (43%), installed a security system (21%) or kept a weapon at home for self-defense (20%).

In the survey, San Diego had the second-highest rate of satisfaction with police--95% of whites and 89% of blacks--behind Madison, Wis.

The LAPD’s Kalish said he was troubled by the number of people in the survey who are buying weapons for self-protection, both at home and on the street, because they may be unnecessarily anxious about crime.

“Although we have done a fantastic job of reducing crime across the board,” he said, “there still remains a perception and fear of crime disproportionate to real occurrences. Because of that perception, more people may be arming themselves.”

Survey results for the other 10 cities:

Knoxville, Tenn., 63% of blacks and 91% of whites were satisfied with their local police; Chicago, 69% of blacks, 89% of whites; Washington, 75% of blacks, 81% of whites; Springfield, Mass., 76% of blacks, 90% of whites; New York, 77% of blacks, 89% of whites; Spokane, Wash., 79% of blacks, 88% of whites; Savannah, Ga., 81% of blacks, 88% of whites; Kansas City, Mo., 86% of blacks, 90% of whites; Tucson, 91% of blacks, 88% of whites; and Madison, Wis., 97% of blacks and 97% of whites.

Lichtblau reported from Washington and Lait reported from Los Angeles.