LAPD Shooting of 13 Year-Old Devin Brown

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Yesterday, in a news conference carried live on local TV, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton described his department's version of a police shooting death that has outraged the black community. Officers thought they'd spotted a drunk driver, when a car going 40 to 50 miles an hour ran a red light and careened up a curb. When they stopped behind him, the driver backed up, striking the police car and rolling forward so the vehicles were side by side. Officer Steve Garcia then fired 10 shots, which killed the driver, who turned out to be a 14 year old driving a stolen car. Chief Bratton is pleading against a "rush to judgment" in Sunday's shooting. Although he's released details of the incident and asked the FBI for a civil rights investigation, and despite recent progress in race relations, some see a return to the bad old days of brutal discrimination. We talk with Chief Bratton and others about law enforcement in LA's black neighborhoods.

LAPD news release on officer-involved shooting of Devin Brown

LAPD releases names of officers involved in shooting of Devin Brown

LA Times editorial on LAPD's "shoot first" culture

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton