Riots
April 25, 2002
City News Service*
TEN YEARS AFTER THE Los Angeles riots, most Angelenos see improvements in race relations, cultural diversity, the quality of neighborhoods and law enforcement, according to an opinion survey.
The survey conducted by Loyola Marymount University found that the city's residents now overwhelmingly believe racial and ethnic groups get along relatively well and that the Los Angeles Police Department does a good job.
"In a city that was torn apart a decade ago," said study author Mara Marks in remarks reported today by the Daily News, "this poll reveals clear indications of community resiliency and optimism -- in ethnic relations, in the diversity of their neighborhoods. "At a gut level, community optimism is incredibly strong," she said.
But the poll also found that nearly half the respondents fear a riot similar to the 1992 unrest is likely to occur within the next five years.
"That 50 percent expect a riot is shocking," said Marks, associate director of the Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles, which conducted the same poll in 1992 and 1997.
"The glass is half full and half empty: 50 percent believe another riot in five years is likely or very likely. However, that number was 60 percent in 1997 and 1992."
The Loyola Marymount survey, conducted in late February and early March, questioned residents about race relations, city services, the economy, education, health care, where they live and what they hope to become.
"Much healing has occurred since 1992, but much hard work remains in building a more just, livable and prosperous Los Angeles," concludes the study, entitled "Los Angeles: A Decade After the 1992 Disturbance."
The riots -- the worst in the nation's history -- broke out April 29, 1992, following the acquittal of four LAPD officers charged in the videotaped beating of African-American motorist Rodney King.
In three days of rioting, 54 people were killed, 2,383 were hospitalized, and 600 fires damaged or destroyed more than 1,100 buildings. Property losses exceeded $1 billion, according to LMU researchers cited by the Daily News.
Of the rioters, according to the study, 36 percent were African-American and more than 50 percent Latino. Korean-Americans, often targeted by the violence, lost or suffered damage to more than 2,800 businesses and had $400 million in losses not covered by insurance.
The LMU survey interviewed 1,549 residents, both in English and in Spanish. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percent.
Among the survey highlights:
-Since 1992, almost twice as many believe race relations have improved across Los Angeles.
-Nearly three-quarters believe racial and ethnic groups get along well or somewhat well, compared with one-third in 1997. Forty-six percent believe the lack of a single racial or ethnic majority is a good thing.
-Overall, 47 percent believe Los Angeles is headed in the right direction, with 55 percent feeling that way about their particular neighborhood.
-Regarding their Police Department, 62 percent believe it does a good job, and 16 percent an excellent job, particularly after Sept. 11. Citywide, 43 percent supported the reappointment of Chief Bernard Parks.
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