Emergency Management La Riots

Table of Contents

Page 3- Introduction

Page 3 - Los Angeles Erupts

Page 5- Figure #1- City of Los Angeles- Extent of damage

Page 6- The Powder Keg and the Spark

Page 7- LA- Rich vs. Poor, Black vs. White

Page 7- Crack Cocaine and Gangs

Page 8- Figure #2- Gang Territories 1996

Page 9- The LAPD- Protectors of Occupying Force?

Page 10- Rodney King and Latasha Harlins

Page 11- Long Term Planning

Page 11- Prevention/Mitigation

Page 11- Preparedness

Page 12- Response

Page 12- Recovery

Page 14- Bibliography

Introduction

The aim of this assignment will be to provide an overview of the civil unrest which took place in the city of Los Angeles, California, USA from April 29 to May 2, 1992. In examining this incident I will endeavor to explain how and why it happened, who and what was affected and what the long term planning implications are for an event such as this. In order to do this I will present an overview of the four days of violence that gripped Los Angeles and investigate some of the root causes of the uprising. Finally, I will present my theories of how better or different prevention, preparedness, response and recovery could have minimized the effects of the incident.

Los Angeles Erupts

In the late afternoon of April 29, 1992 sparks of anger and alienation erupted in Los Angeles, California, USA. For 4 days violent civil unrest raged in this Metropolis of 9,000,000 (U.S. census population estimate for Los Angeles County, California State demographic Research Unit, California Department of Finance), causing the deaths of 54 people, injuring over 2,400 (University of Southern California, "The Los Angeles Riots 1992", http://www.usc.edu/ isd/archives/ la/la_riot.html) and causing property damage of approximately $1,000,000,000 USD (Falkenrath & Rosegrant, 2000). Over these four days, more than 7,000 people were arrested on looting, assault, arson and weapons related charges (Salak, 1993, pg. 33).

Starting at the intersection of Florence and Nomandie, in the predominantly black and hispanic inhabited area of LA known as South Central, a small group of 25-40 teens took to the streets and began a rowdy protest, striking cars with baseball bats and shouting anti police slogans. The Los Angeles Police Department responded with 6 officers and during the course of attempting to arrest 2 gang members, they became surrounded by a mob of 300-400 people (Vernon, 1993, pg 18) throwing rocks and bottles and shouting at the officers. More back up was called and within minutes there were 25 officers there. As the violence escalated, the LAPD commander at the scene ordered his officers to retreat from the area (Vernon, 1993, pg 19). The LAPD would not return to this flashpoint for over 3 hours (Cannon, 1997, pg. 304). This signaled the beginning of the rampant destruction and brutal violence which captivated much of the world for 4 days.

Over those 4 days the spring of 1992, roaming mobs of protesters carried out random beatings and murders, looted and firebombed over 5,300 buildings (The Toll, LA Times, May 7, 1992, pg A6). There are many documented cases, most from early in the riots of innocent motorists being pulled from their cars and beaten. The most famous case, involving a white truck driver named Reginald Denny was captured live by a news helicopter circling above. Mr. Denny was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as he attempted to maneuver his transport truck through the intersection of Florence and Normandie minutes after the police retreated and the violence began to escalate. Mr. Denny was pulled from the cab of his truck, punched and kicked relentlessly, beaten in the head with a hammer, then smashed in the head with a cinder block as he lay motionless on the pavement. As he lay on the ground, one assailant did a victory dance around his body, and another casually walked up and rifled through his pockets (Cannon, 1997, pg. 305). I can still remember watching this carnage at my home, and thinking, as many were, "where are the police." Mr. Denny is alive today thanks to the efforts of four black strangers who watched the live footage on TV of him being beaten and drove to the intersection, pulled him into the cab of his truck and drove him to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital (Cannon, 1997, pg. 309).

As the rioting intensified, it soon became clear that the Korean shopkeepers who ran liquor stores and supermarkets in the poor areas of South Central and Koreatown (see fig. #1) were being targeted, and received the bulk of the looting and fire bombings. At the end of the riots, 1,867 Korean owned businesses were burned or looted, and losses were estimated at $347 million (Kwong, 1992, pg. 88). As the community raged around them, many in the Korean community of Los Angeles mobilized to come to the aid of their friends and associates who owned these stores. Persons of Korean decent came to help protect Korean shops, brandishing weapons from baseball bats to handguns and assault weapons (Cannon, 1997, pg. 323). The reasons for the Korean businesses being targeted are many, and will be investigated in the next section.

As the evening of April 29 progressed, the fires burned freely in South Central Los Angeles. By midnight, there were 500 fires reported to the City of Los Angeles Fire Department. By the end of the riots, 7,000 fires had been reported (Charting the Hours of Chaos, http://www.lafire.com/famous_ fires/920429 _LA-Riots/LATimes-2002-0429-0501/2002-0429_latimes_ChartingThe HoursofChaos.htm , viewed March 17, 2005). The fire crews responding to the first calls came under sniper fire and were confronted by well armed rioters, forcing them to abandon the fire lines until they could secure police escorts (Vernon, 1993, pg 20). Every fire truck being sent to a fire would have to be accompanied by police escorts armed with assault rifles to provide tactical support. The sheer number of fires and lack of police resources meant that many of the fires that would burn over the 4 nights would totally