This week he became both the new police chief of Los Angeles and a symbol of progress. Taking over from the ousted Willie Williams, he's known as a strong manager. While Mr. Parks is replacing a black police chief, he remains only the second African-American ever to head the Los Angeles Police Department. The move is a milestone for both the police force and the city, each divided by the race riots that set the city ablaze five years ago. As the country's most multiethnic city, Los Angeles is a microcosm of America's increasingly diverse future, and Parks's appointment has drawn attention to the progress, or lack thereof, Los Angeles has made in easing racial tension since 1992.
Early reports are mixed.
While the LAPD's efforts to change how it deals with racial issues have been fairly effective, the real challenge, city leaders are finding, is changing the city. And there are disturbing signs that the tangle of racial conflict that led to the '92 riots is only growing more difficult to unravel. The distance is clear in the latest figures documenting the city's race-related crime. Racially motivated crime rose 20 percent from 1995 to 1996, according to figures from the HRC - a group formed in 1941 to eliminate prejudice. Hate crimes against blacks, whites, and those of Middle Eastern descent rose, with the only decline seen in race-related crimes against Hispanics.