Mark Ramsey

Accusing one officer of engaging in "curb-side justice," Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner announced the filing Monday of misdemeanor charges against two Long Beach police officers in connection with a videotaped confrontation with a black activist that became a national controversy. Officer Mark Dickey, seen in the videotape as he appears to shove activist Don Jackson's face through a plate-glass window, was charged with assault under color of authority.

Two years before an amateur cameraman videotaped Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney G. King, an NBC-TV camera crew secretly recorded a Long Beach officer who appeared to shove Don Jackson, a black former police officer, through a plate glass window after a traffic stop. Jackson quickly achieved national notoriety as the videotaped "sting" he had set up to show how police allegedly mistreat minorities was broadcast nationwide.

A network television crew videotaped a Long Beach police officer as he apparently pushed a black suspect face first through a hardware store window before throwing him onto the trunk of a police car. The suspect actually was Hawthorne Police Sgt. Don Jackson, a crusader against racism within law enforcement. Using himself as bait, Jackson intended to illustrate recent complaints of alleged racial brutality in Long Beach by catching unsuspecting police officers in a tape-recorded "sting."

The city is asking a Superior Court judge to force NBC to turn over complete videotapes of an incident in which a white officer allegedly pushed a black man into a plate-glass window. The city attorney's office is also seeking to compel the black man, Don Jackson, and his companion on the night of the Jan. 14 incident to give them the names and addresses of all witnesses.

The Long Beach Police Department referred seven cases of alleged excessive force to the district attorney for review in 1989, the first time in five years that the department has sought the opinion of county prosecutors on brutality complaints against officers, county records show. The district attorney's Special Investigations Division declined to prosecute in six of the seven cases, rejecting three the same day they were referred.

Where can hard-core fans of the Oscars and the merely contender curious go for solid insider insights? There are multiple prognosticators opining on their websites, and there are even a few print publications like this one that can dish the odds. But the truly savvy insider will go online to check the scores at Rotten Tomatoes to parse a film's chances for gold. FOR THE RECORD: Rotten Tomatoes: An article in Wednesday's Envelope section about the Rotten Tomatoes website as Oscar predictor gave the name of the site's editor in chief as Mark Atchity.

A videotaped weekend incident of alleged police brutality and racism in Long Beach led Monday to renewed calls for a citizen review board to oversee the Police Department and for a panel to investigate the officers' conduct. Several civic leaders Monday condemned the actions of the two white officers, one of whom is clearly seen in the videotape pushing a black man's head through a plate glass window after a routine traffic stop.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the FBI are investigating a videotaped incident in which a white Long Beach police officer appeared to shove a black man's face into a plate glass window after a routine traffic stop. The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday to ask the district attorney's office to launch an independent investigation of the Saturday night incident, which was secretly recorded by an NBC television crew. But Assistant Dist. Atty.

In the wake of a nationally publicized incident of alleged police brutality, Long Beach police administrators are investigating six officers in connection with possible misconduct ranging from racial remarks to excessive force, officials said. The six were among 15 officers targeted for investigation by Police Chief Lawrence L. Binkley after the January incident in which Officer Mark Dickey appeared to push black activist Don Jackson into a plate glass window. Binkley said he is seeking to identify officers who have demonstrated a pattern of using excessive force so that they can be retrained.

A videotaped weekend incident of alleged police brutality and racism in Long Beach led Monday to renewed calls for a citizen review board to oversee the Police Department and for a panel to investigate the officers' conduct. Several civic leaders Monday condemned the actions of the two white officers, one of whom is clearly seen in the videotape pushing a black man's head through a plate glass window after a routine traffic stop.