Gangs May Retaliate for ‘Harassment,’ Minister Says

With the truce in Los Angeles’ street warfare still at a delicate stage, an inner-city minister suggested Tuesday that gang members could turn violently against the city’s police officers if the department does not stop “harassing” them at peace rallies.

“These young men are getting restless,” the Rev. Carl Washington warned the Police Commission. “I’m constantly preaching peace and confidence but they’re saying the LAPD is harassing and beating us and taking our cars and hauling us in for no apparent reason.”

He also suggested that if the situation does not change, some gang members may retaliate against individual police officers.

“If the misconduct and harassment continues, there could be some type of violence,” said Washington, a spokesman for the Ministers’ Coalition for Peace.

“After a while they will stop heeding the ministers’ cries for peace and calm,” Washington said. “They’ll say, ‘Reverend, the police aren’t listening to you. They’re not getting the message. So maybe we need to move into drastic action as we did in the recent riots.’ ”

Commission President Stanley K. Sheinbaum acknowledged that the Police Department’s presence at South Los Angeles gang gatherings can pose an “intimidating quality.” But he noted that crimes have also occurred at the parties--such as assaults and drinking in public--and that the police have the obligation to protect everyone’s safety.

“You have to be there if you have any reason to believe something might happen,” Sheinbaum said.

He also said that officers are deeply worried about possible gang retaliation against the police. “There are stories kicking around that police have been specifically threatened,” he said. “We’re worried about it, but we’re not sure what to do about it.”

Washington asked the Police Department to set up a special gang-police task force to help ease the tension.

Sheinbaum did not commit to that request. But he asked department administrators, in their report due next week on police preparedness for potential civil unrest, to also address the delicate relationship between police and gangs.

Washington said gang members are upset that police have towed their cars, falsely arrested some of them and insulted others with racial slurs at a series of recent peace rallies and picnics.

“The gangs have stopped killing each other,” he said. “We have finally got to that point. But now we have a problem with the police.”

Washington, a minister from Watts who for several years has been urging an end to gang violence, became particularly outspoken about police activities after officers shot and killed Henry Peco in the Imperial Courts housing project late last year.

He said Tuesday that if his request for calmer police-gang relations is not met, he will return to Parker Center with a crowd of gang members to speak before the Police Commission. “We will be back again if we have to,” he said. “Only next time with a lot more men.”