This paper focuses on the Los Angeles riot of 1992 because of the significance of the issues it involves. The rioters were mostly protesting police brutality and racism, which they claimed was the order of the day for minority groups in Los Angeles, especially the African Americans ( Abu-Lughod, 2007; Watts, 2010 ). While the acquittal of four police officers who were reported to have beaten Rodney King, an African American, was not the first complaint the people had concerning the perceived racism in the criminal justice system, they felt that the videotape was all the evidence needed to ensure the guilty party was sent to prison. However, the four officers were found not guilty by the trial jury, causing a public outcry from the African American community in Los Angeles ( Watts, 2010 ). Even though the United States has shown considerable progress in addressing the racial issues facing the nation, this riot is still significant as it marks a critical moment of change not only in Los Angeles but also in the entire country.
Research Plan
This research will be sharply focused and limited to the riot itself although there would be a need to consider the events before and after the riot. Since the emphasis of the study is on the response to the riot, most of the literature to be reviewed will consist of the response plans and activities of the agencies involved in the riot.
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The paper will be based on primary sources and a thorough reading of secondary sources concerning the riot. The primary source would preferably be written documents of the riots, though the research would also benefit from oral interviews, photographs, and statistical tables ( Creswell, 2013 ). To ensure the validity of the paper, the study would need to consider as many secondary sources as possible.
Main Leadership Issues
Lack of Coordination
It is essential for criminal justice leaders to work as a team within a given setting or even with other agencies. This quality is important in such instances as the riots in this case because the workforce needed would be large and there are many political, economic, and social ramifications in case the outcomes are undesirable. However, during the riots, especially in the initial stages there was a visible lack of coordination between the agencies responsible for restoring peace and order in the state ( Itagaki, 2016 ). For instance, when the riots had begun, and it was clear that the LAPD would need support from the Guard, no leader, whether from the LAPD or the Guard, declared which agency would coordinate the involvement of the Guard. No one had defined what the mission fo the Guard in that situation would be and the number, if necessary, of troops that would have to be added to the response team. As a result, there was a gap of about 19 hours between the first alert and mobilization.
Lack of Adaptability
Leaders in the criminal justice system need to be adaptable and show versatility, flexibility, and dynamism. They need to be quick-thinkers and have the capacity to switch between multiple, unique situations. The fact that riot training had been sidelined for the State Guard for the two years before the riots show how short-sighted the state’s leadership was at that time ( Itagaki, 2016 ). In a country, as diversified as the United States, it is always likely that there would be instances of civil unrest based on race. The Guard headquarters was particularly ignorant and unprepared for the riots, even after receiving warnings from the LAPD. This rendered the Guard inflexible when the riots actually began, and their response was quite slow and ineffective.
References
Abu-Lughod, J. L. (2007). Race, space, and riots in chicago, new york, and los angeles . OUP USA.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches . Sage publications.
Itagaki, L. M. (2016). Civil racism: The 1992 Los Angeles rebellion and the crisis of racial burnout . University of Minnesota Press.
Watts, P. R. (2010). Mapping narratives: the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a case study for narrative-based geovisualization. Journal of Cultural Geography , 27 (2), 203-227.
