Photos of Los Angeles Police Rampart Division 1994

In 1994, photographer Joseph Rodríguez was given unprecedented access to cover the Los Angeles Police Department for two weeks in the New York Times. This was three years after Rodney King’s assault was videotaped and two years after riots broke out over the acquittal of the four officers involved, leading to a reckoning over the use of force that is as familiar as it is today. is solved.

Rodríguez, a well-known documentary photographer who grew up in Brooklyn and is no stranger to the criminal justice system, was sent to document a police force trying to rethink his image within the community. The unit he worked with, called the “Rampart Division”, is now notorious for a corruption scandal that broke out a few years later. At the time, Rodríguez watched and documented police officers responding to shootings and calls for domestic violence, guns on gang members, and patrolling neighborhoods day in and day out.

At a time when many interactions with the police are captured on cell phone videos and shared on social media, it is striking to see images documenting the complex role of officers both on and off duty. Rodríguez’s photographs highlight the questions we still grapple with today about justice, coercion, racism and who should commit violence against whom. Although taken over 20 years ago, the photos provide an insight into how the police see themselves, which is crucial to understand when looking at who we are as a society. Rodríguez has turned the work into a new book, LAPD 1994. The photos can also be seen at the Bronx Documentary Center (and, conveniently, online). He spoke to BuzzFeed News about his complicated feelings about police and how a social documentary can help change stories.

How did this assignment start?

When this project came up, I got rid of two years of in-depth investigation into gangs in LA. I was really burned out, but one thing I learned from Magnum’s war photographer Gilles Peress is that you have to bring it with you when you get access. I knew this was a one-time deal. We were about to walk into a police station (which turned out to be very corrupt), but they gave me access, I was allowed to drive them around for a few weeks. It was strange sitting in the backseat of a police car, but this time with a camera. I knew what I was looking at and just had to keep my eyes open. I knew this wouldn’t last, so I actually didn’t sleep for two weeks.

What is the response you have had to showing compassion for police work?

I believe there are many good agents here. There really are. I understand the criminal justice system and how it works. There are good people and there are bad people, but I was very aware of this blue shield of silence.

Did I try to make them look good? No, I’m just a humanist. So I photograph the person in front of me, and that’s it. The main crime in this country is real domestic violence. And they see this every day, and it jade you. But let’s not be naive – Rampart [Division] was really corrupt. It was one of the most corrupt police departments, and I only found out after a story was published and the FBI went there and whatever.

At the time, you had two of the most powerful gangs in Los Angeles, MS-13 and the 18th Street gang. I had photographed some of those guys so I knew how serious these guys were. This crash unit I was driving around with was their main job to get the guns off the street.

In a way, LAPD was like a different gang. They would do things and keep things quiet for a little bit. The history is in the book, and there will be an open discussion at the BDC. That will be interesting, how people read these pictures and what they mean.

What do you think about police care now?

I’ve seen things get more exciting after we militarized the police. What I saw on the ground, the militarization of the police after 9/11 – just an amazing amount of money coming in. There’s a build-up from Reagan, Clinton, and all of a sudden there’s a barrage of police coming in like the Avengers. They don’t even talk to anyone, just grab everyone, get the guns.

What do you think is the ideal role of a police officer?

You see a little bit of it LAPD 1994. There was Agent Llanes. One night they were on patrol and they ran into this woman. She’s crying and screaming in a phone booth, and they come out. There are no weapons or anything. It’s a completely different kind of photo. They see her every other day, and that’s community care. They talk to her and try to get her off the street.

In another photo you can hardly see Llanes in the frame. It’s a big, wide picture, and you’ve got the daddy and the little kid, and it’s a domestic violence appeal, and he’s trying to calm things down. That’s how I remember police work was in the 60s and 70s. You had the regular officers who worked in the same neighborhoods for 20 years, so they got to know the pizzeria, they got to know the high school kids. So it was more of a conversation. Today there is very little conversation, and there is the latent question of “Where do the police stand with their own race issues?” When you do the work day in and day out these neighborhoods, I mean, ho. The guys said they had more divorces than any other division. It is a tough job. But I’m not here to make you look good. I’m just here to show the truth, show the moments. Even with my own subjective feelings and problems with the police, I’ve kept that separate because that’s the job. I am not an activist. I’m not going in there to make you look bad either.

I loved that one moment when a new baby is around and the cop in the car says, Oh hey, look, here’s our new baby. That’s the old way. He wasn’t an angel either, but it was nice to see that humanity.

I want to make it clear – one of the things that attracted me every night was the sheer feeling of gun violence. It was like walking down the street, 2pm, and there would be some brawlers with a bunch of shotguns, AK-47s, shooting it. It really was. I got very tired. I spent six months in therapy and then East Side Stories [another book by Rodríguez]. PTSD is a funny thing; it builds up and it hits you like a pile of stones.

What is your favorite image of this work?

I like the first photo of the police officer getting his shoes polished. There’s something about that picture, with the sign on the wall saying “Everybody here brings happiness.” Oh man come on are you serious? And you look at the face of the shoe shiner who comes in. It’s just … with all the black polish that comes out of the box out there, it represents a lot of our history to me. Who is at the top, who is serving?

The other image that I really liked was the two detectives, the close-up because it’s so different: LA versus New York police. In LA they wear Armani suits. They really like that look. In New York they wear polyester. I thought that was interesting.

This is not the kind of book that makes you feel good or gives you that feeling of warmth. It is a document about his specific time and what happened. One of the other photos that I think is almost surreal to me is the gun in the grass after this man was just shot. That’s the proof there. That’s America’s problem there.

Do you have any advice for budding photographers?

Getting access is 90% of the game. Get that person on the other end of the phone. I know what it’s like to be at the bottom. I know what it’s like to be in trouble. I know what it’s like to be in an angry room. I use my photography to generate hope. I wouldn’t say this is a very hopeful book, but that’s okay. You can see it in my Cab book, which was a completely different book from New York at the time. I am a man of social realism. I grew up with this social documentary practice: “Where is the problem? What’s the problem? Let’s try to make some corrections. “I believe in sometimes looking back to understand today’s times.