Beyond the Rodney King Story: An Investigation of Police Conduct in Minority Communities.

Policing in America is dangerous and difficult work and often a convenient scapegoat for social ills. Frequently, community and national leaders cite police brutality as a major contributing factor in civil unrest. The Rodney King incident, like smaller-scale disturbances in Watts, Newark, Washington, DC, Detroit, Miami, and other communities over the past four decades, clearly demonstrates the potentially explosive connection between race and police action. The aftermath of such incidents generally assumes a similar pattern. Special commissions prepare reports attempting to isolate options that communities and police departments might take to improve police-community relations.

Beyond the Rodney King Story takes a broader look at the race issue. The book reports the results of a nationwide initiative undertaken by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in response to the King incident. The NAACP held hearings in six cities - Norfolk, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, St. Louis, and Indianapolis - that brought together Community leaders and police officials in frank and open discussions of the issues surrounding race and policing.

The proceedings presented in this book provide excellent suggestions to help police administrators solve problems related to excessive force and lingering racism in their departments. Several hundred footnoted excerpts from the testimony of police executives and community leaders provide a strong basis for these recommendations. Many of the claims are supported further by quotations excerpted from earlier panels (including the Warren and Kerner commissions, the Miami and Houston hearings, and others), as well as several recognized leaders in policing.

Unfortunately, some of hte testimony delivered at the NAACP hearings takes a defensive or accusatory posture on the part of witnesses who make unwarranted negative statements about the police. The authors offer sweeping statements about law enforcement without citing any authority or scientific study. Such unfounded claims - for example, "It is widely known that there is a high incidence of battering (of wives and girlfriends) by male police officers" - only serve to distract readers. However, the presentation does strike a sense of balance by recognizing "the noble and thankless job performed by police officers...." Likewise, the authors concede that society has come to "...increasingly, and mistakenly, look to the police to solve the complex problems of our times. These problems cannot be solved by policing alone."

The book offers many suggestions for improving relations between minority groups and the police. The authors encourage more police departments to adopt community policing strategies. They also encourage departments to create new means of evaluating the performance of officers and to explore new options in recruiting minority personnel, while raising educational standards. The book also defines 10 common, but often-unspoken, police cultural beliefs that impede progress in police-community relations.

The authors provide functional answers to difficult questions relating to racism, police brutality, and the general lack of trust between some minority groups and police departments. Beyond the Rodney King Story is a highly relevant and wide-ranging presentation that should be read carefully by both police and community leaders.

Reviewed by Timothy J. Johnson, Program Specialist, Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC