Rodney King Court Case

Rodney king, born in Sacramento, California in 1965 and grew up to be known as a polite yet not very intelligent child and teenager. King was a high school dropout and a single father with a history of criminal activity. Rodney King was most famously known for his court battle against L.A.P.D. officers Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Ted Briseno, and Timothy Wind . On March 3, 1991 two crimes occurred involving King, one of which he was the offender and the other where he was the victim. On this Saturday night at 12:50 am Rodney king was driving his white Hyundai under the influence of alcohol along with his two fiends Freddie Helms and Bryant Allen. When a police officer attempted to pull over King, he chose to flee which resulted in a police

At the hospital, King was treated for lacerations on his face, a broken ankle along with a broken cheekbone. Moreover, in King's court case against the officers, he also claimed to have suffered from 11 skull fractures, brain damage, broken teeth and emotional trauma. http://michellawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Report-of-the-Independent-Commission-on-the-LAPD-re-Rodney-King_Reduced.pdf The following day, the horrific video of the beating was aired on multiple news television shows which displayed the "truth about race and class in America". The initial reaction of the general public, especially the African-American community, was filled with rage and disbelief that such horrific acts of brutality and discrimination could take place. Moreover, the white community not only felt anger but also guilt, many of them were ashamed of the officer's discriminatory acts, and the abuse of their power. The strong belief was that if it were a white man who was in King's position, the situation would have most likely developed very differently. A survey was conducted shortly after the recording of the beating had been playing on television for multiple days. It determined that 92% of the general public surveyed believed that the actions of the police officer's were definitely examples of excessive force. Although, this opinion was also shared by many police officers as

For example, following the first trial and riots in Los Angeles, the Christopher Commission was created by mayor Tom Bradley to examine the L.A.P.D. to properly teach officers how to conduct themselves and avoid more cases of excessive force. Furthermore, the importance of unbiased jurors in the courtroom has significantly increased, allowing for racially mixed juries. Also, currently many police officers are now required to wear a body camera which can greatly reduce the chances of an officer using unreasonable force and also decrease complaints against police officers. Gass, Henry. "Cleveland case shows how body cameras can help police." Christian Science Monitor, October 13, 2015., N.PAG, Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed April 16, 2016).PARA