Ben Torres
Ms.Kasey Davis
Col Prep English
6 April 2017
The Worst Race Riot in US History
More than 20 years ago, my father, Danny Torres, was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department and he experienced firsthand what the Los Angeles riots were all about in 1992. When he got out of high school, my father enlisted in the United States Army. During his military service he was stationed in Panama , and many other places all over the world. July of 1989, he married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Blossom. My mother, Sarah gave birth to their son, Ross. Danny decided to become a Los Angeles Police Officer and so they picked up and moved to California. Danny worked hard while attending the Los Angeles Police Academy, and he prospered. His excellent training prepared him to go out into the world and protect and serve. It was during this time that the infamous beating of “Rodney King” took place. Three officers of the Los Angeles Police Department beat a defenseless Rodney King during a traffic stop and it was videotaped. The state of California went crazy when the “not guilty” verdict was read. I asked my father, where he was when he heard about the verdict. He said “ I was working rampart division of the LAPD, they had every officer on standby because they believed the verdict would result in violence and destruction.” However initially violence did not take place, that would come later. So they basically sent all the officers back to their regular positions. That decision was definitely not the right one. It wasn't long until Danny had to return to work. He said “We lived out in Rialto,CA so it was around a 60 mile drive for me back home. By the time I had just pulled into the driveway, I got the call that I had to come back to work.” On his way back, the city had already started changing. “My station was in downtown Los Angeles, so on the way back through, I saw everything. There were roads blocked and fires everywhere. They even had police officers guarding the police station from rioters that were making threats, like they were going to kill us or shoot up the station”. In the beginning, there were times when Danny was fearful for his life. “ We were being shot at a lot and even had one of our police cars shot up. The worst part about being shot at, was that we had no idea where it was coming from. There were so many people you couldn't tell who was shooting at you and who wasn’t.” The police officers had a many duties to fulfill while out at the riots. Danny said, “We were meant to stop the looting and then due to a firefighter being shot when the rioting first began while they put out the many fires around the …show more content…
Danny said, . “I didn't come home for 5 days, we all worked 16 hour shifts. Then we would sleep in the bunkhouse that was used to house inmates awaiting trial.” Throughout the 5 days he saw many things he never thought he would ever witness. “It's something as an officer you would never think of seeing at that magnitude of a riot, because it started in the south central area then just went everywhere. Seemed like it was basically just a free for all, people took advantage, of what originally was a disgruntled group protesting the court's verdict. That then erupted into people just going and stealing whatever they want because there was so much chaos. they could steal stuff and not many would realize it because they all were doing …show more content…
Eventually the national guard was called in to help stop the rioters, but before they came they had a game plan they used. “Since we didn't have enough reinforcements at the time to fully stop the riots, we decided to try and just keep them in a small part and make sure it was controlled in one area and not everywhere like it had started. Just until the reinforcements came in and helped us stop the riot” said Danny. Even though the riot had ended there was still a lot more to do to try and bring the community back
Ms.Kasey Davis
Col Prep English
6 April 2017
The Worst Race Riot in US History
More than 20 years ago, my father, Danny Torres, was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department and he experienced firsthand what the Los Angeles riots were all about in 1992. When he got out of high school, my father enlisted in the United States Army. During his military service he was stationed in Panama , and many other places all over the world. July of 1989, he married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Blossom. My mother, Sarah gave birth to their son, Ross. Danny decided to become a Los Angeles Police Officer and so they picked up and moved to California. Danny worked hard while attending the Los Angeles Police Academy, and he prospered. His excellent training prepared him to go out into the world and protect and serve. It was during this time that the infamous beating of “Rodney King” took place. Three officers of the Los Angeles Police Department beat a defenseless Rodney King during a traffic stop and it was videotaped. The state of California went crazy when the “not guilty” verdict was read. I asked my father, where he was when he heard about the verdict. He said “ I was working rampart division of the LAPD, they had every officer on standby because they believed the verdict would result in violence and destruction.” However initially violence did not take place, that would come later. So they basically sent all the officers back to their regular positions. That decision was definitely not the right one. It wasn't long until Danny had to return to work. He said “We lived out in Rialto,CA so it was around a 60 mile drive for me back home. By the time I had just pulled into the driveway, I got the call that I had to come back to work.” On his way back, the city had already started changing. “My station was in downtown Los Angeles, so on the way back through, I saw everything. There were roads blocked and fires everywhere. They even had police officers guarding the police station from rioters that were making threats, like they were going to kill us or shoot up the station”. In the beginning, there were times when Danny was fearful for his life. “ We were being shot at a lot and even had one of our police cars shot up. The worst part about being shot at, was that we had no idea where it was coming from. There were so many people you couldn't tell who was shooting at you and who wasn’t.” The police officers had a many duties to fulfill while out at the riots. Danny said, “We were meant to stop the looting and then due to a firefighter being shot when the rioting first began while they put out the many fires around the …show more content…
Danny said, . “I didn't come home for 5 days, we all worked 16 hour shifts. Then we would sleep in the bunkhouse that was used to house inmates awaiting trial.” Throughout the 5 days he saw many things he never thought he would ever witness. “It's something as an officer you would never think of seeing at that magnitude of a riot, because it started in the south central area then just went everywhere. Seemed like it was basically just a free for all, people took advantage, of what originally was a disgruntled group protesting the court's verdict. That then erupted into people just going and stealing whatever they want because there was so much chaos. they could steal stuff and not many would realize it because they all were doing …show more content…
Eventually the national guard was called in to help stop the rioters, but before they came they had a game plan they used. “Since we didn't have enough reinforcements at the time to fully stop the riots, we decided to try and just keep them in a small part and make sure it was controlled in one area and not everywhere like it had started. Just until the reinforcements came in and helped us stop the riot” said Danny. Even though the riot had ended there was still a lot more to do to try and bring the community back