Gulf' separates races in dealings with police // Poll finds sharply different

  views of law enforcement

  Haya El Nasser

  02/11/1993

  USA Today

  FINAL

  Page 11A

  (Copyright 1993)

  LOS ANGELES _ Larry Garber, a physician who deals daily with life-and-death

  situations, says he feels a lot of sympathy for police.

  "The kinds of people who become police officers are more likely to be

  straightforward and honest," says Garber, 35, of Charlton, Mass.

  Luther Morrison, 62, a welder from Birmingham, Ala., doesn't buy that. Plenty

  of jobs are risky, he says, but police "have an attitude problem."

  Garber is white. Morrison is black.

  They were respondents in a CNN/ USA TODAY /Gallup Poll that shows a stark

  division among the races when it comes to trust in law enforcement and the state

  of race relations in the USA _ key factors in selecting a jury in the racially

  charged Rodney King civil rights trial.

  The poll asked 840 adults some of the questions posed to 333 prospective jurors

  in the trial of four white police officers accused of beating black motorist King

  March 3, 1991.

  "There's a pretty wide gulf between the experience that non-blacks have with the

  police vs. the experience blacks have," says Los Angeles lawyer Cynthia

  McClain-Hill, who publishes a quarterly magazine for minority professionals.

  "Blacks really have a real strong law-and-order orientation, but they also have a

  lot of experience with police and racism," says McClain-Hill.

  When asked if obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues

  children should learn, 92% of blacks agreed _ 75% of them strongly _ while 89%

  of whites agreed, 64% of them strongly.

  Educated white baby boomers were least likely to agree. Among blacks, boomers

  were most likely to strongly agree.

  Respondent Alice Jones, 70, of Miami is pretty understanding of police: Her

  sister is on the force. But Jones, who is black, says bluntly: "We've all had to be

  afraid of policemen on account of race. . . . We've got a lot of good policemen

  and we've got a lot of corrupt ones."

  And Michelle Wilson, 24, a black state employee from Quincy, Fla., says:

  "They're not telling the truth just because they wear uniforms."

  The survey shows that blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to say racial

  discrimination against blacks is a serious problem where they live _ 67% vs.

  31%..

  "There's an acute perception within the minority community that justice is not

  served when it comes to particular trials and modes of policing," says urban

  politics expert H. Eric Schockman, professor at the University of Southern

  California.

  "It's a slap of realism," says Schockman. "People who live under racial

  discrimination know it's a problem that hasn't gone away. . . . You can't

  whitewash it."

  Other poll findings:

  More whites than blacks _ 74% vs. 48% _ say police do a good or excellent job

  in their cities.

  Most respondents _ 61% of whites and 81% of blacks _ say they believe

  defendants must prove their innocence.

  More whites fear a repeat of rioting that followed the acquittal of the four

  policemen last year in their state trial _ 71%, vs. 57% of blacks.

  More whites say it's better for society to let some guilty people go free than to

  risk convicting an innocent person _ 42% vs. 33%.

  "It bears out what most people believe, that African-Americans are more

  predisposed to give a sympathetic hearing to the prosecution's case,"

  McClain-Hill says.

  And in follow-up interviews with some respondents, even those who believe they

  could be impartial, the infamous videotape of the beating keeps resurfacing. Says

  Jones: "Everybody saw this. They should be punished and kicked off the force.

  You don't do a human being like that."

  Opinions didn't always fall along racial lines.

  Jerry Light of Lilburn, Ga., is white, but he says: "I'm supposed to believe in

  authority and everything, but I'm 32 years old and I've seen so much abuse of

  authority.

  "I do believe (King's) civil rights were violated. Nobody deserves to be beaten

  like a dog," says Light, a hardwood-floor installer.

  But retired lawyer Robert Carney, 83, says: "Police are fallible just like any

  human being. . . . Sometimes they lose their temper. It's not good, but they

  shouldn't be put in jail for the rest of their lives."

  Los Angeles civil rights lawyer R. Samuel Paz says poll results could be a good

  sign for defense lawyers: "If jurors answer truthfully or as consistently as the

  poll, they're going to be able to get a white jury."

  Questions to jurors: A poll's responses

  Prospective jurors for the new federal trial of police officers accused of beating

  motorist Rodney King were asked to complete a 50-page questionnaire to

  determine their views on police, discrimination and other issues. In a nationwide

  poll of non-jurors, here's how people responded to 12 of those questions.

  (Questions editied for length and clarity.):

  ON THE POLICE AND COURTS

  How do you rate your local police?

  Whites Blacks Good 74% 48% Fair 24% 45%

  Do police officers give testimony truthfully?

  Whites Blacks Yes 76% 52% No 20% 41%

  Is it wrong to prosecute police officers for wrongdoing on the job?

  Whites Blacks Yes 17% 18% No 77% 78%

  Should defendants in a criminal trial be required to prove their innocence?

  Whites Blacks Yes 61% 81% No 35% 16%

  ON RACE RELATIONS

  Does society treat people of all races equally?

  Whites Blacks Yes 27% 13% No 71% 86%

  Is racial discrimination against blacks where you live serious?

  Whites Blacks Serious 31% 67% Not serious 64% 31%

  Have you ever been afraid of someone of another race?

  Whites Blacks Yes 31% 13% No 69% 87%

  Do some people use racial discrimination as an excuse for their shortcomings?

  Whites Blacks Yes 93% 95% No 5% 3%

  ON RODNEY KING

  What was your reaction to the Rodney King verdict?

  Whites Blacks Justice served 19% 2% Disappointed 69% 95%

  Is it unfair to bring the officers to trial again?

  Whites Blacks Yes 40% 18% No 53% 79%

  Were the riots a result of anger, frustration over discrimination?

  Whites Blacks Yes 69% 75%

  Do you fear unrest following the next verdict?

  Whites Blacks Yes 71% 57%

  Contributing: Jonathan T. Lovitt

  GRAPHIC,b/w,Marty Baumann, USA TODAY ,Source: USA TODAY

  /CNN/Gallup Poll of 840 adults by telephone on Feb. 8-9. Margin of error:4

  percentage points; PHOTO,b/w,Curtis Compton,AP; PHOTO,b/w,AP(2);

  PHOTO,b/w; PHOTO,b/w,Agence France-Presse