Alphonzo Bell, Jr. (1914-2004) was a United States Congressman who represented the 27th and 28th Congressional Districts - which encompassed the communities of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Bel Air, and West Los Angeles - between 1961 and 1977. Materials within the collection date from the 1930s to the 1980s and document Bell's political career.
Abstract
The city of Los Angeles became the epicenter of a public relations scandal on March 3, 1991, when an amateur cameraman captured on video four uniformed LAPD officers beating motorist Rodney G. King. In addition to generating public outrage, the incident cast a dark shadow over the LAPD and called into question the integrity of the nation's third largest municipal police force. Subsequently, the ten member Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department was formed to conduct a...
Dates:
1991 - 1995; Majority of material found within 1991
Abstract
On April 29, 1992, the city of Los Angeles erupted into riots after four LAPD officers accused of beating motorist Rodney King were acquitted of all criminal charges. The effects were catastrophic; in total, the chaos persisted for six days and resulted in 58 deaths, 2,383 injuries, and nearly a billion dollars in property damage. The extent of the human and material losses incurred from the riots, coupled with intense public scrutiny of the LAPD, led the Los Angeles Board of Police...
Dates:
1931 - 1992; Majority of material found within
Chaired by attorney Warren Christopher, the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department was formed in the wake of the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King by several LAPD officers. The collection consists of files kept by Richard M. Mosk in his capacity as a member of the Commission.