"In a statement, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck remarked "[Rodney King's] legacy should not be the struggles and troubles of his personal life but the immensely positive change his existence brought on this city and it's police department." Changes in police hires and a focus on the police department’s community relationships became a key result of the Rodney King beating, and the riots."
In an article where CNN describes the manner in which the Rodney King beating and LA riots changed America, they claim that the methods for police hire was one of the major changes. However, over the past few years, it seems to me that there is another "incident" of police brutality, discrimination, or excessive use of force against minorities. While i do believe that cities must have changed their hiring processes / made it tougher to become an officer, I do not think they have done a very good job.
On discoverpolicing.org, it is made public what is required of cadets or people that might be interested in doing police work.
- Ability to use good judgment and to problem solve
- Capacity for empathy and compassion
- Ability to demonstrate courage and to take responsibility
- Demonstrating assertiveness
While there are definitely police officers who work efficiently and fairly, the amount of officers who "fear for their lives" while around minorities pose a serious threat to our society. It was this same racism that caused the beating of Rodney King and the ignition of the LA and other race riots.
Perhaps a step towards solving an issue like this would be to create a requirement where officers either need to live in the area they police or have lived in the area for several years and understand the dynamics of the community they are expected to protect.
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