European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6the stars and stripes saturday March 9, 1991in . Police beating by Hector Tobar and Sheryl Stolberg the los Angeles times los Angeles a los Angeles police chief Daryl f. Gates recommended felony prosecution thursday for three officers who participated in the videotaped beating of a Man. He also promised to discipline a sergeant and As Many As 11 other officers who watched. Gates called the violent incident sunday morning an aberration and he attributed it to a a total human  he singled out a sergeant who apparently failed to Stop officers As they kicked 25-year-old Rodney g. King and beat him with nightsticks. A the decision to pursue criminal prosecution rests with the los Angeles county District attorney. Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley appeared pleased with Gates Call for disciplinary actions but the mayor also ordered the City a police commission a a civilian oversight panel whose members he appoints a to press Forward with a  look into possible deficiencies in the departments training supervision or what the mayor termed a your command  Gates also disclosed new details about the attack on King saying that he had been struck 53 to 56 times a significantly More than earlier estimates a and had been kicked seven times. King an Altadena resident who was released from prison in december after serving a one year sentence for robbery is an unemployed construction worker. He was confronted by the officers Early sunday after what police said was a High Speed car Chase. At his news conference Gates said the sergeant at the scene should have prevented the routine arrest from escalating into an uncontrolled beating. In a move intended to restore Confidence in the department Gates announced the decision to seek prosecution which resulted from two continuing departmental inquiries into the events. One is a criminal probe by the major crimes unit and the other is a review by the departments internal affairs4unit. Although the District attorney will determine specific charges Gates said the three officers could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon or assault a under the color of  the three officers and the sergeant have been taken off duty but Are still on the department payroll Gates said. They will also be charged administratively and May be suspended without pay at that Point. Gates did not identify any of the officers involved including the sergeant. However a police report on the incident identified the sergeant As Stacey Koon 40, a father of five and a 14-year Veteran. Capt. Tim Mcbride head of the foothill division of the los Angeles police department confirmed that Koon and three other officers a Laurence Michael Powell 28, Ted Briseno and Timothy wind 30 a had been relieved of Field duty. All three officers were recorded on a videotape shot by an Amateur cameraman and televised nationally by major networks outraged viewers have flooded police Telephone lines with Calls. Bradley told reporters he has received 1,000 complaint Calls. After the beating King was booked by police for evading arrest and held for four Days. He was released from los Angeles county jail wednesday after the District attorneys office cited Lack of evidence to prosecute him. Los Angeles police chief Daryl f. Gates Hatfield denies wrongdoing ,300 in gifts a we a in Washington a sen. Mark Hatfield r-Ore., said thursday a former University president who gave him $9,300 in unreported gifts was a longtime Friend and was not trying to buy congressional influence. A anybody who would know me pretty Well would know i am not influenced by people that easily especially if the influence is contrary to my judgment my beliefs or my integrity a Hatfield said in an interview. A a a he scoffed at the notion that former University of South Carolina president James Holderman had been currying influence by providing the gilts at a time when the school was lobbying for Federal funds. He said Holderman and his family have been friends for 24 years or More. A the knows 1 have played a fiercely a dependent role where i have not been influenced by the a Mac House my contributors even a majority of my constituents on some issues a Hatfield a said. Quot a a Hatfield said he. Had made Art error in failing to report the four Art works Worth a total of $9,300 on his disclosure forms As required by Senate rules. 1 in said he failed to report the gifts provided by Holderman Between 1983 and 1987 because he did not realize they were Worth More than $100 each. Senate rules require reporting any gifts Worth More than that amount. Paddy Mcguire Leader of Oregon a democratic party said thursday the a i u gifts and a full. I Bufie scholarship the University or South Carolina extended to Hatfield a son Charles constitute the appearance of a conflict of interest. Quot i think there is a very Strong indication of at least the appearance of very bad form by senator Hatfield on All of Washington a installing air bags for Drivers and front seat passengers would add $200 to the Price of a new car but the thousands of lives it would save each year Are Worth it said lawmakers who want to mandate  group of senators introduced legislation thursday to make air bags Standard equipment in Alt new cars by late 1995 and in All Light trucks and vans by late 1997. They estimated it would prevent 12,000 deaths annually. A the single most important vehicle improvement we can make to save lives and prevent injuries is to require air bags in All cars and Light trucks a said sen. John c. Danforth a to. Consumer groups and several insurance companies endorsed the Bill. A air bags save lives it s As simple As that Quot said Judith Lee Stone executive director of advocates for Highway and Auto safety. Spokesmen for the big three . Automakers said they were installing air bags on their own initiative in response to Consumers growing safety awareness. Chrysler corp. Spokesman John Guini Ven said the company opposed a legislative mandates for specific designs or systems like air bags.�?�. Genera motors corp. Said it was studying the Bill and Ford motor co. Said Congress in considering the Issue should Quot recognize the importance of flexibility to accommodate new ear and truck introduction . The automakers said airbags done to save lives by themselves. Quot safety belts arc available in vehicles now and Are proven lifesavers a com said in a statement. But the Hill s sponsors said there was growing evidence that air bags offer greater Protection than automatic belts although Federal regulations consider this a Mcguire said in a Telephone interview from Albany Ore. Hatfield ranking Republican on the Senate appropriations committee said the omission May come in for scrutiny from the Senate ethnics committee. But he said that would evidently not create a Legal problem.  May want to ask some questions a he said. A my counsel seems to feel everything is Legal and everything is More a matter of procedure not a matter of  Hatfield said he never thought the gifts were related to the schools lobbying for a $16.3 million Grant for  Center. He said he actually led an Effort to slash the South Carolina request in the appropriations committee to $ 1,7 million a a Quot a a the gifts included two pieces of Steuben Glass a porcelain statue and a print of a drawing of a wild Turkey by John James Audubon. Holderman later left the University partly because of  his use of Public funds for gift giving a airbags them equally effective. A air bag equipped cars Are unquestionably safer a said sen. Richard h. Bryan a Nev. A Federal regulation that became full effective with the 1990. Model year requires new cars to have either front seat air bags or automatic seat belts a temporary exception was granted for cars with Drivers Side air bags which May have a manual Belt on the passenger Side through 1993 the National Highway. Traffic safety administration plans to extend the regulation to Light trucks and minivans. The Bill s sponsors however said it would be better to put the air bag requirement into Law than to wait for the Agency or the Auto Industry to  we done to believe that the size of an individuals paycheck a Bryan said a bought to determine whether he or she is protected by a device which is  c-17 jets could be defective by the los Angeles times Long Beach Calif. Federal agents Are investigating allegations that Mcdonnell Douglas employees improperly installed thousands of rivets in the wings of air Force c-17 Long Range cargo jets creating a potential safety Hazard. A a a. A a. Quot the rivet problems and a related allegation that Quality control records were altered to cover up the rivet deficiencies Are being looked at by the Fri according to Pentagon and Industry sources. An Fri spokesman said that the Agency could not comment. The allegations first surfaced late last year when the company a Douglas aircraft unit Here which is building the c-17, began an internal investigation notified the air Force of the Case. In a statement issued in response to a reporters inquiries Douglas officials acknowledged that they a became aware of a pro Cess control Issue with our automatic fastening system a but added that they a determined that there was no significant Impact on the  the concern is that thousands of rivets were apparently improperly installed by an automated drilling and riveting machine known As a dry nematic. At Issue is whether the Pri nematic inserted the rivets with an improper amount of Force resulting in some rivets being overstressed and some rivets being under stressed according to Douglas  rivet stresses Are out of line with specifications it could eventually Lead to fatigue cracks Between rivet holes according to the Douglas sources. Ultimately a series of such cracks could unite into a Large crack that would threaten the structural integrity of the Wing