Fin vs History L.A.P.D (The Los Angeles Phrenology Department) | The People vs O.J. Simpson (Part 2/4)
Feb 5, 2026
They trace how policing and LA history turned the case into a citywide reckoning. They retell the Bronco freeway chase and the surreal live-TV spectacle. They map decades of LAPD racism, riots and infamous incidents that shaped public response. They set the scene for the legal drama to follow.
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LAPD As An Occupying Force
- The LAPD in late 20th-century LA functioned more like an occupying force than community police in Black neighborhoods.
- Structural policies like redlining and aggressive policing created cycles of mistrust and violence.
Leadership Normalized Racist Theories
- LAPD leadership made public statements rooted in pseudoscience and racial stereotyping, worsening community relations.
- Daryl Gates's claims about physiological differences and racial slurs fueled mistrust.
Operation Hammer's Mass Arrests
- Operation Hammer in the late 1980s massively increased arrests and complaints of brutality in LA.
- By 1990 over 50,000 people had been arrested, escalating tensions in affected neighborhoods.