ABSTRACT
There is little doubt that the Rodney King incident served, in some way, to help trigger the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) meltdown. One might assume that the Rodney King incident was first and foremost on most officers’ minds when it came to explaining the major causes of the organization’s meltdown. Surprisingly, however, among the 238 statements collected from the study sample interviews there were relatively few officers that directly made mention of the King incident—either explicitly or implicitly. Immediately following the King incident’s news-breaking coverage, seen locally in Los Angeles and quickly spreading as the top story around the world, the LAPD formulated a firm line of defense to explain the actions of the Foothill Division officers at the scene. The department’s defense strategy was an attempt to convince the public that the officers’ use of force against King was not malicious, but rather a professional response to the seemingly dangerous situation that confronted them.
