Shooting Suspect’s Racism Allegations Resound for Some (NYT)

[jsr]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/us/for-some-suspects-charges-of-police-racism-resound.html

February 8, 2013
Shooting Suspect’s Racism Allegations Resound for Some
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

LOS ANGELES — For the Los Angeles Police Department, the allegations of departmental corruption and racism by a former police officer now accused of a revenge-fueled killing rampage are the words of a delusional man, detached from the reality of the huge improvements the force has undergone over the years.

Yet for whatever changes the department has undergone since the days when it was notorious as an outpost of rampant racism and corruption, the accusations by the suspect — however disjointed and unhinged — have struck a chord. They are a reminder, many black leaders said, that some problems remain and, no less significant, that memories of abuses and mistreatment remain strong in many parts of this city...

“We look at the police differently from the way you look at the police,” said Hodari Sababu, 56, a tour guide who has lived in the South Central section of Los Angeles for 40 years. “In your community, the police is there to protect and serve; in my community, the police are there to harass and to insult and to kill if they get a chance.”...

Charlie Beck, the police chief, said he did not give any credence to the claims Mr. Dorner made about racism in the department.