document: Just last week , a federal judge hearing a civil rights suit issued an unusual order that employees follow department policy -- and the department appealed , winning a temporary delay of the order. ; The spotlight that had been trained on the police department and its 8,300 officers now has widened to take in the equally large sheriff 's department . Block 's measured response to the criticism -- and the lack of a riveting videotape -- have spared him the level of heat felt by Police Chief Daryl Gates . But after years of boasting that their methods were models in policing , both departments are facing pressure to revolutionize their tactics to better fit this first-of-its-kind metropolis. ; `` We are a multiracial , multicultural city more than any other , '' said Ramona Ripston , head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California . `` If something can be worked out here , it would be really , I think , a model that can be exported . '' ; Joseph McNamara , retired chief of San Jose 's department and now a fellow at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution , said he has been getting calls all summer from cities around the country about racism and brutality in their departments. ; `` There 's got to be a revolution in American policing , '' McNamara said . `` Militarizing police is a definite trend in the past 10 years , and part of it is because of the Los Angeles models . '' ; But some observers say that , for a variety of political and social reasons , the possibility for substantive change on L.A. law 's front lines is scant. ; Low level of interest ; `` There is n't the level of interest among voting people , people with power , people with influence , '' ACLU spokesman Joe Hicks said . `` They do n't really care much about police reform . They just want to make sure their communities are safe . '' ; The poor minority communities that do care suffer `` a lack of organization that really can take advantage of the anger over the police and keep some momentum going that could potentially force reforms , '' Hicks said. ; The King beating led to an investigation of the police department by an independent commission that found racism , brutality , inadequate discipline , mismanagement and a `` siege mentality '' pitting officers against the community. ; The Christopher Commission 's scathing report made more than 100 recommendations , many of them aimed at moving away from the department 's `` hard-nosed '' approach and improving relations with residents. ; At the street level , it suggested officers spend more time out of their patrol cars , work more with community groups and ease up on the common practice of making suspects lie face down on the ground even when they pose no apparent threat. ; The city council is reviewing the recommendations , some of which -- for instance , a term limit for the chief -- require voter approval. ; Now , critics are calling for the same kind of independent investigation of the sheriff 's department. ; But Block has dug in his heels , insisting a panel he appointed is independent enough to advise which Christopher Commission recommendations might apply to his department . Critics say its leaders have been supporters of the local law establishment. ; But because Block is elected , his is the last word. ; Like Gates before him , Block maintains his department is a good one with `` a reputation as being one of the most progressive , one of the most professional , one of the finest law enforcement agencies . '' ; The sheriff has said that his department continually re-examines itself and launched several Christopher Commission recommendations before the commission even existed -- but that it ca n't do everything. ; ' A last-resort mechanism ' ; `` Law enforcement , and I 'm going beyond the sheriff 's department , did not create the social conditions out there from which the violence is springing , '' he said . `` People are looking at the criminal justice system today as being the linchpins of government ... -LRB- But -RRB- We 're a last-resort mechanism when other kinder and gentler processes fail in our society . And fail they have . '' ; Block pointed to social ills including high drop-out and illiteracy rates , `` young people who are raising themselves , '' and a county jail system that is `` perhaps the major houser of mentally ill people in our society in this nation . '' ; Countywide , homicides soared to 1,964 last year , compared with 1,463 five years earlier. ; There are 950 known street gangs with more than 99,300 members in the county , according to the sheriff 's department. ; Agreeing that law enforcement is not the answer to all of society 's failures , critics say Block is missing the point. ; `` Police brutality -LRB- or -RRB- racism is not a social problem , it 's a law enforcement lack of leadership , '' the Hoover Institution 's McNamara said . `` The basic goal and mission of law enforcement people is to reduce conflict in the community ... . The rhetoric of the Los Angeles police establishment through the years seems to have escalated conflict , not lowered it . '' ; The FBI , Amnesty International and the county grand jury are investigating allegations about both departments. ; But some critics are skeptical that the police culture here will change significantly. ; ` Window dressing ' predicted ; On the city side , they worry that the Christopher Commission recommendations will be diluted by the time the city council and voters are finished with them . Besides a new police chief , the ACLU 's Hicks predicted only `` some window dressing and some moderate changes made to training . '' ; On the county side , critics say Block 's position as an elected official insulates him from the kind of independent review the city was able to order for the police department. ; And although he can be voted out , they say , the voters include great numbers of people in cities that his department does n't patrol. ; John Burton , an attorney specializing in police misconduct cases , offers a grim view on the potential for change : `` I think it 's going to get worse , because of the general decay in social conditions and unemployment . The government does n't have anything to offer except police repression , so that 's what we get . ''
extractive_keyphrases: police brutality racism inadequate discipline investigation police reform
abstractive_keyphrases: rodney king public criticism