How the 1984 Olympics Increased Police Brutality

      When you think about the Olympics, images of medalists and pride are what mainly come to mind. However, little does the general public truly understand the underlying pain the cities can cause upon its' citizens. Before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, city officials were worried about how the city's drug addiction and crime would appear to international countries. They decided that something had to be done to show how well off LA was. So Police Chief Daryl Gates increased his police militarization to crack down on these crimes, which lead to an increase of youth black in prisons. Not only did this militarization occur during the games, but also it continued after the games. "From 1984 -89, there was a 33 percent spike in citizen complaints against police brutality. . . Between 1986 and 1990, 1,400 officers were investigated on suspicion of using excessive force, less than 1 percent were prosecuted" (Zirin).

      With more young blacks being imprisoned wrongfully and an increase in police militarization, more and more people were becoming angered with the way the police were acting. With constant harassment, the people had enough once the beating of King came to light. Just like now, we can see videos and read stories on excessive police brutality with little to no punishment. With little effort being done to help, the people are coming together to better their future as well as their community.

     -Michael Xu

Sources:

Meyers, Dvora. “The 1984 Olympics Were Bad For Poor Black People In Los Angeles.” Deadspin, Deadspin.com, 7 Aug. 2017, deadspin.com/the-1984-olympics-were-bad-for-poor-black-people-in-los-1797612842.

Zirin, Dave. “Want to Understand the 1992 LA Riots? Start with the 1984 LA Olympics.” The Nation, 29 June 2015, www.thenation.com/article/want-understand-1992-la-riots-start-1984-la-olympics/.