Police brutality concerns were heightened by the beating of King (top) and the beating of illegal immigrants RELATED VIDEO CNN's Anne McDermott examines the civil rights report Windows Media 28K 80K

May 7, 1999
Web posted at: 10:32 p.m. EDT (0232 GMT)

In this story: A city of immigrants Attorney: 'Still a lot of racism' RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- One day after Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask cleared four white police officers of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting death of a 19-year-old black woman, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission recommended the creation of a special prosecutor's office to pursue allegations of abuse by Los Angeles law enforcement officials.

In a report issued Thursday, the commission noted that while conditions had improved since the infamous videotaped beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers, more improvements were needed.

The report was prompted by two incidents that strained relations between Los Angeles law enforcement and minorities.

One incident was the eventually discredited testimony of Detective Mark Fuhrman during the O.J. Simpson criminal trial.

The other incident was the beating of undocumented immigrants by sheriff's deputies in nearby Riverside County.

A city of immigrants

Los Angeles, as the report points out, is a city of immigrants who speak 160 different languages; about half the residents speak a language other than English while at home.

The report recommended more culture-sensitivity training for employees of law enforcement agencies.

But the recommendation seen as most important was the one urging the establishment of a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of brutality and misbehavior by law enforcement officers. That job is currently held by the district attorney.

Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti declined to comment on the recommendation until he has a chance to read the full report. But a veteran civil rights lawyer applauded the idea.

"There's been just too many examples of where the evidence has been there, but they don't want to offend the cops," said attorney Hugh Manes.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department had no immediate comment. But the Los Angeles Police Department said it has been making significant progress and it resented the Fuhrman reference.

"To generalize about the 13,000 men and women in this organization, based upon one individual, that's not fair," said Cmdr. David Kalish of the LAPD.

Attorney: 'Still a lot of racism'

Maybe it's not fair, said a critic, but Fuhrman is not alone.

"There's still a lot of racism, let's face it," Manes said.

One of the authors of the report said the picture is not all grim. For example, after the commission finished gathering data, the Los Angeles Police Department got a new police chief, Bernard Parks.

"I think that there are still problems," said Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the commission. "But I think Chief Parks and the city have made a number of changes, since he's been there, that are in line with the recommendations that we've made."

The commission's report was based on hearings held in Los Angeles between 1993 and 1996, and on media accounts and other sources since that time.

Correspondent Anne McDermott contributed to this report.

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