B. Statistics from the Civil Unrest
|
Deaths and Injuries Law enforcement officials indicate that between 44 to 52 deaths were directly related to the riots. Those killed included African Americans, Latinos, Asians and whites. Over three-fourths of the shooting victims were shot by someone other than the police or National Guard. By comparison, during the riots of 1965 in Watts, three-fourths of the shooting deaths (23 of the 31) were from police and soldier gunfire. As of June 2. 1992, law enforcement officials had made arrests in connection with nine of the deaths in the SCIA disorder. The riots also resulted in 248 critical and 2,077 noncritical injuries. Property Damage The County of Los Angeles estimates that the riots resulted in $735 million in property damage in incorporated and unincorporated areas. It estimates that 1,573 buildings were damaged, of which 613 were completely destroyed. The damage occurred in the following communities. (Data from Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer, June 3, 1992.)
Later reports indicate that the toll may have been even higher. The report, The City in Crisis, by former FBI Director Webster, dated October 1992 (P. 23) states that $1 billion in property was damaged or destroyed. A separate door-to-door survey by Dun and Bradstreet, the credit reporting agency suggested that the numberofbusinessesdamagedordestroyedtotaled2,314. Dun and Bradstreet further estimated that as many as 4,500 businesses were touched by the riots. Of the many buildings partially or completely destroyed, 350 were liquor stores. Property Damage: Failure of Insurance Programs Victims Suffered Major Uninsured Losses. Uninsured losses in the wake of the Los Angeles disturbances are well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Self-reported, uninsured losses exceeded $250 million, and an evaluation by the California Department of Insurance on the nonadmitted market indicates that as much as $50 million of loss claims may be in jeopardy with under-capitalized, unlicensed companies. Moreover, some businesses covered by licensed insurers, and especially the FAIR plan, were not fully insured for all their losses. At the time the disturbances occurred, the FAIR plan provided only limited market-value coverage, and did not insure for replacement cost or interruption. The California Department of Insurance has surveyed 2,474 individuals who reported property losses. in order to investigate their insurance coverage. The survey found that 400/o of these victims were insured, 52% were not insured, and 8% did not know the status of their insurance. The following table provides greater details on the number of persons victimized by property losses and the amount of those losses:
Of the 925 respondents who had insurance, 388 (42%) said they were underinsured. The underinsured group reported $181.788,408 in damage, of which $140,829,208 (77.6%) was not covered by insurance. The 1.334 respondents who had no insurance gave the following reasons for not carrying coverage:
Private Insurance Companies Face Major Claims. Concern Exists Over Nonpayment by Nonadmitted Companies., Two hundred admitted companies were surveyed by the California Department of Insurance, of which 167 responded. Eighty-five companies reported claims on commercial policies, 26 of those companies indicated at least part of their claims were from national accounts, 48 companies reported personal lines claims. The following table shows the number and amount of insurance claims reported by companies licensed to transact insurance in California (i.e., "admitted insurers"):
All 424 licensed surplus line brokers were surveyed and 281 responded. They reported that 51 nonadmitted insurers received 520 claims from the disturbances, totaling $64.134,040. To date, $20,953,879, or about one-third of reported claims, has been paid. California Department of Insurance investigators issued two warnings regarding this information. They are concerned that a large percentage of the unpaid $43.3 million may prove to be uncollectable. They also believe the data is still incomplete and that as much as $20-30 million in claims may remain undiscovered at this time. Two nonadmitted companies, which employ the same claims administrator and claim adjustment firm, are responsible for over 150 of the unresolved claims, worth over $15.5 million. The parties involved are under current investigation by the California Department of Insurance. Many Small Entrepreneurs Cannot Obtain Insurance or Financing to Reestablish Their Businesses, The experience from consumer complaints and follow-up reviews indicate that smaller, lower capitalized businesses are the ones most likely to possess inadequate insurance. Nearly two-thirds of the self-reported survey respondents who had no insurance said it was either too expensive or unavailable. These smaller firms have difficulty finding the resources to rebuild their businesses. Recent news reports and other surveys reinforce this conclusion. A Dun & Bradstreet study estimates that 40% of the destroyed businesses have closed their doors for good. That survey also found widespread lack of insurance and underinsurance, reporting that only 25% of the businesses had adequate insurance, and one-fifth had no coverage at all. In addition, news reports and information reported the great difficulty in qualifying for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. For many small firms, the SBA is likely to be the only possible source of the capital needed to reinstate their businesses. National Guard Deployed President Bush federalized the National Guard and it deployed over 14,000 troops in the Los Angeles area during the riots. Over 8, 000 of the troops were stationed on Los Angeles streets. Many people expressed concern that the guard was slow in deploying troops because it did not have adequate access to bullets, body armor and parts for making automatic M-16 rifles into semiautomatics. The governor appointed retired Army Lt. General William H. Harrison to lead an investigation of the guard's response to the riots. Arrests Law enforcement officials continue to sort through arrests to determine which arrests should be characterized as riot-related rather than routine. As of June 8, 1992, law enforcement officials estimated that 9.000 people were arrested for riot activity. This is half of some published news reports. Some reporters apparently based the estimate of 18, 000 incorrectly on the number of arrest forms that law enforcement had distributed to personnel, rather than on actual arrests that officers made. Of the persons arrested in the riots, approximately 40 percent had prior criminal records, and 30 percent were on probation or parole for criminal convictions. Of the 9,000 arrests, 5,800 were on felony charges and 4,200 were for misdemeanors. The majority of misdemeanor charges were for curfew violations. Law enforcement agencies arrested people at unprecedented rates during the riots. Furthermore, many law enforcement officials were not able to take the time from riot patrol to process arrest reports. These factors lengthened holding times for suspects before they were formally arraigned. Prior to the riots, state law required the judicial system to provide persons arrested for felonies with arraignment hearings before a judge within two working days. Senate Bill 11 17 (Roberti) allowed judges, between May 5 and June 1, 1992, to extend the deadline for arraignment hearings from two to 10 days. SB 1117 allowed for these extensions under special circumstances, including times when large numbers of people are arrested. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas on May 5, 1992, extended the two-day deadline for arraignment hearings to 10 days, as provided in SB 1117. Jail populations increased by 26,000 after the Los Angeles riots. Negative Effects Continue Though the recovery and renewal effort is underway. there continues to be negative fallout from the civil unrest. Economic activity in the area has slowed, many people are out of work, and many residents report they are looking for a way to get out of the area. Despite the positive effects of the truce among the major African-American gangs, tensions in the riot-affected areas are high. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau reported in May that they expected a loss of visitor spending in the L.A. area of several hundred million dollars. |
Continue to C. Response to Social Conditions and the Unrest
Return to the Table of Contents
New Inititatives for a New Los Angeles