The War Zone, It's Awful Hard to Break Away Summary

Daryl Gates, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and a current talk show host, wanted to correct the perception that he was at a fundraiser when the disturbances began. He says it was a group of people against Proposition F, people who supported him from the beginning. These people begged him to be at the gathering so he attended despite the fact that he does not like those kinds of things. He had a commitment, he says, and he is the type of person who honors his commitments.

Gates admits now that he should not have gone to that meeting. It would not have changed anything because he had been in constant contact with his forces while he was at the gathering, but attendance at...