Daryl Gates Character Analysis

Daryl Gates was chief of the LAPD during the riots, after which he was forced to resign. In his interview, he attempts to defend his absence from Los Angeles after the verdict for Rodney King’s Simi Valley trail was announced—an absence that was heavily criticized and used to fuel the public support for his resignation. At the time the jury was scheduled to deliver the verdict, Gates was out of office attending a fundraising event organized by a group that opposed Proposition F, a city amendment that would impose term limits on the LAPD police chief. Critics claimed that Gates’s attendance at the function proved how out of touch he was. In his interview, Gates disputes these claims, arguing that his presence wouldn’t have done much good, anyway, since people already viewed him as “the symbol / of police oppression / in the United States,” a designation Gates resents. Gates is angry that his legacy of over 40 years in law enforcement will now be forgotten, “Just because some officers / whacked Rodney King / out in Foothill Division / while I was in Washington, D.C.”