I’m willing to bet a large sum of money that you heard
about the 1997 murder of rap superstar Notorious B.I.G. on Wilshire
Boulevard in Los Angeles. And of course, you heard about the murder
of Clive Jackson near Western and Vernon in South Central.
Wait, who? I thought so. Jackson and hundreds of other Angelenos
are the faceless victims in a war going on in our own city.
Jackson was a talented 14-year-old basketball player. Those who
knew him remember him as a caring person with a love for sports.
Jackson was gunned down by a gang member on a block that could be
best described as a rundown version of Westwood’s Gayley
Avenue. But since Jackson had the misfortune of being born in South
Central, his life was snuffed out, and there was no palpable
outrage from the greater community of Los Angeles.
If the community Jackson lived in and the police force that
patrols it had done their jobs, he might still be alive today.
Jackson is just one of the 640 people expected to be murdered in
Los Angeles by Dec. 31, a 9 percent increase over last year. To
deal with this problem, L.A. mayor James Hahn recently appointed
former New York Police Commissioner William Bratton as the LAPD
chief.
But the solution to this debacle lies only partly with the
police. The residents and leaders of these poor neighborhoods can
play a major part in closing the gaping wounds of these local
killing fields. In areas like South Central, communities exist in
name only.
Many children grow up without fathers, and lack any responsible
male role models, which is a large influence on the occurrence of
crime. The lack of an educated labor force has driven jobs to more
affluent suburbs, and young males, mostly Latino and black, are
left with few positive paths in life. Being bad has been glorified,
and all too often, criminal behavior is excused and
rationalized.
Still, though, the police do have certain key obligations.
Precinct and squad commanders must be forced to devise detailed
plans for reducing crime and be held accountable. Officers should
be able to investigate crimes without fear of major disciplinary
action for inadvertent mistakes, as was the case during Bernard
Parks’ tenure as chief.
Police detectives must work more closely with street cops to
identify the most influential gang members and conduct aggressive
sweeps to round them up and prosecute. Most of all, police have to
be willing to listen to residents, understand their concerns, and
realize that their utmost responsibility is to the community being
served.
Chief Bratton has vowed to make this a top priority, and he had
success with it in New York. Residents know what gang is on which
block, who is selling the drugs, and where to look for criminal
elements. These residents must be respected and treated as
partners.
Outside oversight of the police department is paramount, and
police commission reforms must be followed. The police cannot
continue to argue that others have no right to tell them how to do
their jobs, for the way officers conduct business intimately
affects an entire community.
But this is not to say the police should be derided for every
questionable action. Opportunistic politicians like Congresswoman
Maxine Waters pounce on virtually any police mistake, while the
infinitely more costly violence occurring among residents of the
neighborhoods is given a cursory mention at best.
Also, it seems that residents frequently cannot decide what they
truly want; we hear demands to stop the epidemic levels of violence
in South Central, yet police sweeps that round up known gang
members who happen to be relatives of local residents are quickly
accused of “racial profiling” or “civil rights
violations.” The community must accept the role police play
in reducing violence, and needs to understand that for law
enforcement to remove dangerous criminals from the streets,
residents of their neighborhoods will have to be incarcerated.
Crime devastates a community in numerous ways, most notably in
that lives full of potential are needlessly lost. The residents of
the fearful, forgotten wastelands, and the police force that
patrols these areas, are the only actors who can alter the plot of
this Shakespearian tragedy of urban America.
We must wage a “war on terrorism” in our streets,
against terror that slaughters more slowly but just as surely as
the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001. That is the least we can do for
Clive Jackson and all the other silenced voices that tug at the
conscience of this city.
Bhaskar’s column runs every other Thursday.