State Of Emergency: Inside the Los Angeles Police Department

Between 1986-1991, the Los Angeles Police Department received 2,611 citizen complaints of excessive force by police officers. Between 1986-1990, over 1,400 officers were investigated. Of these, about 1% were prosecuted. The videotape of the Rodney King beating on March 3, 1991, focused national attention on the issue of police brutality and/or abuse, particularly in the wake of the initial jury's acquittal of the officers involved on April 29, 1992. State of Emergency combines interviews with current and former L.A.P.D. members, as well as activists such as Michael Zinzun, head of the Coalition Against Police Abuse (who also, one learns during the credits, served as Associate Producer). As other film clips show, the Rodney King beating was not an isolated incident. Insiders talk about the systemic racism and callousness inside the L.A.P.D., while activists outline remedial measures such as the Citizen Police Review Board, which would allow communities to take an active role in governing local police. At its worst, State of Emergency is a little one-sided (a roll call of names of people who were killed by police officers seems pointless--the absence of commentary invites us to assume that all of these "named" people were wrongful deaths; and that's highly unlikely.) At its best, however, the film raises vital questions about responsibility, and proposes solutions that are worthy of discussion. Too, the unedited video clips--which many people haven't seen--don't lie; and the sight of several police officers attacking peaceful marchers from a janitor's union is not an easily explained away aberration. Although the video deals with the L.A.P.D., specifically, the issues at the heart of State of Emergency are of national concern. Recommended. (R. Pitman)