No Charges in Policeman’s Racism ‘Sting’

The city attorney’s office has decided not to file charges against a Hawthorne police sergeant who was arrested last month when he staged a “sting operation” in Westwood Village in an attempt to prove that Los Angeles police harass minorities.

Deputy City Atty. Peter Covette said Thursday that there was not enough evidence to successfully prosecute Sgt. Don Jackson on a charge of resisting arrest. Jackson was arrested Feb. 13 in an incident Police Chief Daryl F. Gates labeled a “crazy, crazy, stupid, idiotic act.”

Jackson, 29, who heads an organization called Law Enforcement Officers for Justice that has denounced alleged racism in numerous police departments, said officials did not have a case against him and “had no other choice” but to drop the prosecution.

‘Distorting the Facts’

In a press conference outside the West Los Angeles Municipal Courthouse on Thursday, Jackson accused Gates of “lying and distorting the facts” about how the “sting” had been conducted and demanded that the police chief be replaced.

“This is the latest step in a series of mismanagement and blunders” by Gates,’ Jackson said. “For Chief Gates, this exoneration simply registers another embarrassing moment for the Los Angeles Police Department.”

Jackson also accused the LAPD of mistreating minorities in the community and black officers on the force, some of whom he said are subjected to stricter disciplinary action than white officers.

Police spokesman Cmdr. William Booth defended the Jackson arrest as “lawful and necessary to maintain peace and order on the streets of Westwood.”

“If you pose as a gang member and act as a gang member, the police will talk to you,” he said.

Booth said Gates’ original comments criticizing Jackson’s “sting” are “still operable,” and added that Jackson’s newest charges are meaningless and unfounded.

Allegedly Blocked Sidewalk

On the night of Feb. 13, Jackson and half a dozen black youths went to Westwood to investigate whether police were harassing minorities. Jackson was arrested after his group allegedly blocked a sidewalk and would not move, authorities said.

Jackson said he chose Westwood because of complaints that minorities were being harassed there after the slaying Jan. 30 of Karen Toshima, a bystander shot to death during a gang dispute.

Gates, in a videotaped message to police released last month, charged that Jackson and his companions had baited police and “wanted to cause trouble.” Gates said Jackson’s companions in Westwood included “known gang members.”

The Hawthorne Police Department is continuing its own investigation of the Westwood incident, Capt. David Barnes said. Barnes and an officer from Hawthorne’s Internal Affairs Division were at the press conference Thursday and tape-recorded Jackson’s comments.

Told Not to Comment

Barnes said Jackson had been told not to comment publicly on the Westwood “sting” because of the continuing investigation, which could lead to disciplinary action against Jackson.

According to Jackson, Barnes warned him after the press conference that he might have violated department procedure by speaking out against Gates without first filing a complaint.

“They are trying to gag me, to keep me from talking out on these issues,” Jackson said.

Jackson is on a stress-related leave from the Hawthorne department, which he has sued for alleged racial discrimination. The organization he leads includes officers who have alleged in lawsuits that they have been the victims of racism in police departments in Santa Monica and Glendale.