document: A police chief plays an essential role in setting the climate in which his department operates . Through the years Mr. Gates has made public statements clearly at odds with the new concept of community policing , in which officers work with citizens to improve neighborhoods and prevent crime . A few years ago Chief Gates referred to gang members as `` dirty little cowards , '' and warned them that `` there is resounding applause to every fall of the hammer . '' The exchange sounded more like one gang challenging another than a police chief seeking to reduce conflict in the community . Indeed the Rambo-like challenge did not lower violence , and may have increased it . Hundreds of gang homicides occur every year in Los Angeles despite sweeps by the city 's police . Mr. Gates would have been better advised to seek community programs for jobs , education , elimination of prejudice and improvement of neighborhoods . But this kind of reasoning is foreign to a man who publicly claimed that his SWAT team could free the Iranian hostages . Similarly , Mr. Gates vehemently opposed the Police Corps Program backed by other police chiefs . The Police Corps would send idealistic young people , including minorities , to serve a three -- or four -- year tour of duty after college graduation in return for federal funding of their educations . Mr. Gates opposed the Police Corps because its members would not be professionals . Yet the presence of such `` non-professionals '' would discourage the racism and brutality exposed by the Rodney King beating . Such attitudes survive only in a closed police culture . The presence of even one police corps officer witness would have deterred the criminal cops . Many chiefs openly disagreed with Mr. Gates when he opposed the Police Corps Bill in Congress . We should be as openly critical of his other statements . For example , Mr. Gates once said that blacks were more susceptible than `` normal people '' to chokeholds . More recently , he described the killer of a policewoman as an `` El Salvadoran , who should n't have been here . '' The nationality of the murderer was irrelevant . Mr. Gates 's statement did nothing to lessen the tragedy of the fallen officer , but like his statement about blacks , it gave comfort to bigots within and outside the department . And it hardly reduced conflict in a city where the majority of the population is made up of minorities who need and deserve police protection , whether or not they are citizens . Two years ago , on a national television documentary , Mr. Gates defended a special unit that had shot many criminals during stakeouts . The unit had advance knowledge that crimes were about to occur , but often stayed outside and let robberies occur , even though innocent retailers and customers were put at risk . The chief said that arresting the criminals before the robberies was n't a good idea because the courts were so lenient . The unit has been allowed to continue to operate despite its high shooting rate -- or , worse still , because of the shootings . Last year Los Angeles paid $ 3 million to 52 residents of an apartment complex ransacked by police . Mr. Gates reluctantly admitted that the officers who did the ransacking were wrong , but said he could understand their frustration in trying to fight drugs . Even more recently , Mr. Gates told the Senate that `` casual drug users should be taken out and shot . '' He assured the senators that he was not being facetious . And his initial reaction on television to the Rodney King brutality tapes was defensive . Mayor Tom Bradley told the media that such conduct would n't be tolerated , and that the wrongdoers would be sought out for punishment . Mr. Gates said that while he was shocked , he was n't drawing conclusions and would look into the `` background , '' of the incident . Presumably , the chief has now received wiser council . He has called for prosecution of three of the officers , and has produced a videotape for his troops condemning the beating . But condemnation of misconduct and excessive force should have been a constant message from the command staff before the brutality , and not an afterthought . Yet , it 's hard to imagine commanders preaching restraint in light of the chief 's constant belligerent pronouncements . Even Mr. Gates 's apology to Mr. King sent the wrong message . He said that he hoped the incident might help Mr. King to straighten out his life . It is hard to imagine someone unlawfully beaten by uniformed officers as others looked on being inspired to respect law and order . Or was the chief suggesting that the beating was a warning against further run-ins with the police ? Clearly , Daryl Gates 's words and actions create doubt about his claim that the Rodney King incident was an aberration . Public opinion polls in Los Angeles show the majority of people believe police brutality is common , and they disapprove of the way Mr. Gates has done his job . When he characterizes such opposition as cop-haters , he embitters his department and to some extent all police . Mr. Gates 's military style of policing is at odds with that in the rest of the country , and it 's about time police leaders publicly repudiated it . It is hard to see how the Los Angeles Police Department can regain credibility unless Daryl Gates 's leave becomes permanent . But the videotape of the LAPD brutality affects the credibility of all police officers . It has cast a cloud over policing that wo n't be lifted until police chiefs drop their own code of silence and speak out against one of their own 's peculiar philosophy of policing . -- Mr. McNamara is the police chief in San Jose . He comes from a family of policemen and has been one for 35 years .
extractive_keyphrases: police brutality rodney king incident excessive force lapd brutality los angeles