The four remain free on bail pending trial. A security camera in the store captures the shooting on videotape. The shooting exacerbates racial and ethnic tensions in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King beating. Soon Ja Du is charged with murder for the shooting death of Latasha Harlins. The Los Angeles Police Commission places Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates on sixty-day leave.
Gates enjoys civil service protection against being fired.
The Los Angeles City Council reinstates Gates. May 7 Gates fires probationary officer Timothy Wind and suspends without pay the other three officers who have been criminally charged in the King beating. A grand jury refuses to indict seventeen officers who stood by at the King beating and did nothing. The Christopher Commission Report documents the systematic use of excessive force and racial harassment in the Los Angeles Police Department. The Report calls for structural reforms in the LAPD and the resignation of Daryl Gates.