Table of Contents
Page 3- Introduction
Page 3 – Los Angeles Erupts
Page 5- Figure #1- City of Los Angeles- Extent of damage
Page 6- The Powder Keg and the Spark
Page 7- LA- Rich vs. Poor, Black vs. White
Page 7- Crack Cocaine and Gangs
Page 8- Figure #2- Gang Territories 1996
Page 9- The LAPD- Protectors of Occupying Force?
Page 10- Rodney King and Latasha Harlins
Page 11- Long Term Planning
Page 11- Prevention/Mitigation
Page 11- Preparedness
Page 12- Response
Page 12- Recovery
Page 14- Bibliography
Introduction
The aim of this assignment will be to provide an overview of the civil unrest which took
place in the city of Los Angeles, California, USA from April 29 to May 2, 1992. In
examining this incident I will endeavor to explain how and why it happened, who and
what was affected and what the long term planning implications are for an event such as
this. In order to do this I will present an overview of the four days of violence that gripped
Los Angeles and investigate some of the root causes of the uprising. Finally, I will present
my theories of how better or different prevention, preparedness, response and recovery
could have minimized the effects of the incident.
Los Angeles Erupts
In the late afternoon of April 29, 1992 sparks of anger and alienation erupted in Los
Angeles, California, USA. For 4 days violent civil unrest raged in this Metropolis of
9,000,000 (U.S. census population estimate for Los Angeles County, California State
demographic Research Unit, California Department of Finance), causing the deaths of 54
people, injuring over 2,400 (University of Southern California, “The Los Angeles Riots
1992″, http://www.usc.edu/ isd/archives/ la/la_riot.html) and causing property damage of
approximately $1,000,000,000 USD (Falkenrath & Rosegrant, 2000). Over these four
days, more than 7,000 people were arrested on looting, assault, arson and weapons related
charges (Salak, 1993, pg. 33).
Starting at the intersection of Florence and Nomandie, in the predominantly black and
hispanic inhabited area of LA known as South Central, a small group of 25-40 teens took
to the streets and began a rowdy protest, striking cars with baseball bats and shouting anti
police slogans. The Los Angeles Police Department responded with 6 officers and during
the course of attempting to arrest 2 gang members, they became surrounded by a mob of
300-400 people (Vernon, 1993, pg 18) throwing rocks and bottles and shouting at the
officers. More back up was called and within minutes there were 25 officers there. As the
violence escalated, the LAPD commander at the scene ordered his officers to retreat from
the area (Vernon, 1993, pg 19). The LAPD would not return to this flashpoint for over 3
hours (Cannon, 1997, pg. 304). This signaled the beginning of the rampant destruction and
brutal violence which captivated much of the world for 4 days.
Over those 4 days the spring of 1992, roaming mobs of protesters carried out random
beatings and murders, looted and firebombed over 5,300 buildings (The Toll, LA Times,
May 7, 1992, pg A6). There are many documented cases, most from early in the riots of
innocent motorists being pulled from their cars and beaten. The most famous case,
involving a white truck driver named Reginald Denny was captured live by a news
helicopter circling above. Mr. Denny was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the
wrong time, as he attempted to maneuver his transport truck through the intersection of
Florence and Normandie minutes after the police retreated and the violence began to
escalate. Mr. Denny was pulled from the cab of his truck, punched and kicked relentlessly,
beaten in the head with a hammer, then smashed in the head with a cinder block as he lay
motionless on the pavement. As he lay on the ground, one assailant did a victory dance
around his body, and another casually walked up and rifled through his pockets (Cannon,
1997, pg. 305). I can still remember watching this carnage at my home, and thinking, as
many were, “where are the police.” Mr. Denny is alive today thanks to the efforts of four
black strangers who watched the live footage on TV of him being beaten and drove to the
intersection, pulled him into the cab of his truck and drove him to Daniel Freeman
Memorial Hospital (Cannon, 1997, pg. 309).
As the rioting intensified, it soon became clear that the Korean shopkeepers who ran liquor
stores and supermarkets in the poor areas of South Central and Koreatown (see fig. #1)
were being targeted, and received the bulk of the looting and fire bombings. At the end of
the riots, 1,867 Korean owned businesses were burned or looted, and losses were estimated
at $347 million (Kwong, 1992, pg. 88). As the community raged around them, many in the
Korean community of Los Angeles mobilized to come to the aid of their friends and
associates who owned these stores. Persons of Korean decent came to help protect Korean
shops, brandishing weapons from baseball bats to handguns and assault weapons (Cannon,
1997, pg. 323). The reasons for the Korean businesses being targeted are many, and will be
investigated in the next section.
As the evening of April 29 progressed, the fires burned freely in South Central Los
Angeles. By midnight, there were 500 fires reported to the City of Los Angeles Fire
Department. By the end of the riots, 7,000 fires had been reported (Charting the Hours of
Chaos, http://www.lafire.com/famous_ fires/920429
_LA-Riots/LATimes-2002-0429-0501/2002-0429_latimes_ChartingThe
HoursofChaos.htm , viewed March 17, 2005). The fire crews responding to the first calls
