The purpose of this paper is to explain the Rodney King scandal. It will also explain who the main players that was involved in the scandal. This paper will also explain how the scandal affected the relationship between the community and law enforcement and steps taken to improve this relationship. The paper will also give a brief overview of racism and determine if racism played apart in this scandal.
Racism overview
Racism has existed for centuries. Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior (Racism, 2017). An example of racism is declining to hire someone because of their name (if it sounds like an African …show more content…
His parents are Odessa and Ronald. In his youth, Rodney was arrested for robbing a store in California. He was convicted and sent to prison for one year. In 1991 King was involved in an incident with four Los Angeles police department.
After the incident mentioned above Mr. King had many run-ins with law enforcement. In 1993 King was again arrested, for crashing his car into a wall, while under the influence of alcohol. He was then put on probation and had to sign up for an alcohol rehabilitation program. He was again arrested in 1995, by the Alhambra Police, when he attacked his wife with his car. He was charged with hit and run, and he convicted and put in jail for 90 days in the prison. His wife at the time was severely hurt due to a fall she sustained when she hit the ground. The last time Mr. King was arrested was in 2003. He was arrested for speeding and not stopping at a red light. He did not pull over this time as well and instead smashed his car into a house, which in effect he broke his …show more content…
Officer wind was just months shy out of the police academy when this incident happened. Shortly after the Rodney King incident, he was fired by the Los Angeles police department (LAPD). He later got a job in 1994, as a community service officer for the Culver City Police Department.
Stacy Koon was a Los Angeles police sergeant, who was unfortunately at the scene of the incident. After being acquitted in a state court, he was found guilty in federal court and spent two and a half years in prison. Mr. Koon capitalized on the incident, and he later wrote a book about the incident (Xia, 2012).
The last person that was a primary player in the incident was Theodore Briseno. At the time of the incident officer, Briseno was an employee of the Los Angeles police department for approximately ten years. After the incident he fought unsuccessfully to keep his job, he was fired in 1994. He was the only defendant to break ranks and testify against the other three officers who were charged, describing them as "out of control." He acknowledged that he stomped on King late in the video, saying he was trying to stop him from moving (Xia, 2012).
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