Pelted With Bricks for 5 Days as a Rookie Cop — Cathy Lanier
In a Nutshell
Cathy Lanier recounts her chaotic first day as a rookie cop during the 1991 Mount Pleasant riots in D.C., triggered by a language barrier-fueled shooting of a Latino man, leading to five days of being pelted with bricks and bottles while standing line in riot gear without radios. She critiques the police's brute-force response amid poor community communication, emphasizing the need for officers to embed in neighborhoods, understand local needs, and problem-solve rather than escalate. Post-riots, daily foot patrols taught her the satisfaction of making tangible differences in people's lives despite chain-of-command frustrations.
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Cathy Lanier describes the Mount Pleasant riots in Washington, D.C. The night before her first day out of the academy, two police officers on foot patrol in the patrol district attempted to arrest a Latino male for drinking in public. He did not speak English. The department had few Spanish-speaking officers despite a huge Latino population, creating a significant communication gap that hindered effective policing.
During the arrest, after one handcuff was applied, the man pulled a knife on the officer. The officer shot him. The partner cuffed the second wrist, removed the knife, and called paramedics. The community only saw a handcuffed person who had been shot.
The Latino community gathered, forming a large crowd around 11:30 PM. By 1:00 AM, riots broke out: police cars were burned, stores looted and set on fire.
Lanier arrived at the station at 5:30 AM for roll call on her first day. She introduced herself as the new rookie. They handed her a gas mask, told her to hop over the counter, exit the back door, and get in a van with 15 other cops equipped with gas masks and riot sticks.
The van dropped them at the corner of Mount Pleasant Park Road, fully engulfed in fires, looting, with people throwing bottles, bricks, and stones. Rookies received helmets but no radios—Lanier relied on her partner's radio, as she had no training on it. They stood in line, pelted with bricks and bottles for 5 days—a trial by fire.
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