Thoughts on the LA Riots

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What do you guys think of the LA riots and what effect it had on African Amercians, police brutality, etc.?

Thanks,

-LegoMaster2149 (Written on August 18, 2017)

It ruined the economy in those areas where they occurred, helped gangsta rappers sell product, otherwise not much, we still can't all get along. There is still a massive divide in how progressives and conservatives in general and blacks and whites in particular view law enforcement. Unlike 1992 there is a contingent of libertarians that view law enforcement with suspicion but that has to do with the post 9/11 security state, not the LA riots.

The LA riots were double edged swords. On one hand, many innocent people lost their lives, property, and/or livelihoods and some of those neighborhoods never recovered completely....there are large swaths of Los Angeles which are called "food deserts" because the supermarkets in those areas were looted during riots, and so closed down permanently and the companies never returned to the neighborhoods. On the other hand, some of the riots did serve as the catalyst to change for the better, particularly within the LAPD.

I am only a little bit familiar with the LA. riots, I remember the Rodney King cases and the footage but I was young. That was excessive and unreasable use of force, and not what the police should be there for. I advocate for Peelian principles.

I am more familiar with the Brixton riots, Bristol riots, Bradford riots and 2011 riots across England.

Each one of them is different. I think that is the problem with these cases is, not all of them are a just a cause.

Regarding 2011 riots very little of what transpired had to do with political protest, it was a free for all to target certain business mobile phone shops, sports wears shops, electronic shops (not book shops) largely to order under the cloak of chaos, and they freely admit to this. Easy money. This is something freely admitted by those convicted, and we are talking career criminals many of them wanted at the time.

It is very difficult to have an sympathy for them, becuase they destroyed whole communities, put people in mortal danger. I remember an independent party shop which has been in my community for decades, they burnt it down. They nearly killed the poor people living above. These are thugs wearing expensive clothes, and riding expensive bikes getting everything they need from the state, nearly killing poor people who work hard, likely immigrants who had come for a better life. I'm proud for the community for not only clearing up but raising money for this business to restart.

Mark Duggan himself, whether or not he feared for his life this was largely due to his lifestyle choice. It wasn't the police he was fearing, but gang rivals. The person that supplied him the weapon was convicted of using it to extort black businesses and pistol whip the owner of a hair dresser. This is in an area close to me south of the river and Duggan transported all the way up to Tottenham.

The Man Dem gang that Duggan was associated with, is a nightmare for the black communities it exploits and has been since the 80s. People can't have it both ways. These groups s**t on their communities, they murder people, they destroy families.

My general view is peaceful protest should be the first course of action, and independent inquiry. People should not jump to conclusions, but seek justice about all.

The Duggan case was independently investigated and reached the high court, the police officers acted lawfully, the Duggan family have lost the appeal and rightly so. There is no new evidence to support an appeal and all the evidence points to the offers acting lawfully in killing Mark Duggan. There is no indication of malice or biggotry. Of course this is understandably hard of the family to take, but he was a criminal.

It is almost as if some people want to the police to always be evil and act with malice. Then they are surprised when good people don't wan to join the police, becuase they don't want to risk being painted with the same brush. Minority police officer can be ostracised in their own communities, not always, but it does happen.

I'm for more de-escalation training, more policing by consent Peelian aproach. However communities also have to also take responsibility and accept that they can also have their issues, then need not appease the bad eggs in their communities. Nor can they enforce the law by themselves. If their communiites are not willing to join the police themselves or resent people that do the, it is hardly surprising that these issues persist.

Police officers need to understand that the authority given to them, is not their authority over the people but mandated by the people, through the law of the land.

That doesn't mean the an individual can just defy the police, but he police officer's power only applies to this mandate, and the authority depends on the requirement of that mandate. Otherwise, outside of that role, they are just a citizen like anyone else. Just like a food safety officer has a specific mandate.

Better recruitment practices and training are necessary to instill this.

In the US there is a extremely mixed origin of the police forces. Even up to he early 20th century, many states they had law enforcement in form of "lawmen". Lawmen could be and often were criminals, they killed people, they acted and judge jury and executioner,, it was not about justice by a system of order through force what was then quite lawless areas with little governance due to be frontiers or in the wake of the civil war. Although proper functional jurisdiction has since been establish, a Peelian code of practice is not always there.


Robert Peel formed the first modern uniformed metropolitan police force in London. The people had reservations about a organised police force at first. Contrary to popular belief the UK police don't routinely carry weapon, not becuase of gun regulation. This was 200 years before gun regulation. It was becuase the people did not want police force that could put down political descent like had happened in Paris.The decision is still with the Chief constable/Commissioner orthe county or national force.