Letter from a private citizen, 1990

Letter from a private citizen, 1990

State Violence
Dymally, Mervyn M., 1926-2012

On February 22nd, 1990, the author sent this letter to Congressman Dymally and the Watch Commander of Compton Police to call attention to a recent event involving her daughter. As the letter states, “[her daughter] was attempting to drop her companions off at her girlfriends’ apartment when a minor infraction occurred.” The vehicle was stopped by police officers for an unspecified reason. They accused someone inside the vehicle of throwing a gun out the window, and then proceeded to verbally and physically abuse one of the male passengers. According to the author, “[her daughter] was shaken by this incident, [and] I feel you may have destroyed her faith in this ‘Great American System.’ She was emotionally distraught.” In the following paragraph, the author expresses her two main motivations for writing. She first requests that her letter become part of the record of the officers involved, indicating that “Under Code #6054, I am petitioning that this be done.” Secondly, she suggests that “There should be a more compassionate group of officers dealing with our young persons who have done no wrong.” Throughout the letter, the author refers to the police officers as accusatory, physically and verbally aggressive, and blind to justice. As a mother of a 17-year-old daughter, she did not want this incident to be forgotten and hoped it would help change the way police officers interact with the youth.

Written by Leila Low and Stephanie Varghese, History 2050,Honor's College, Fall 2019.

Name withheld for privacy considerations

Mervyn M. Dymally Papers, Special Collections & Archives, California State University, Los Angeles

California State University, Los Angeles, Library. Special Collections & Archives

1990-02-22

IN COPYRIGHT

Document

English

Text

Page 99