The Territory, These Curious People Summary

Stanley K. Sheinbaum, former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, talks about the time that Maxine Waters, congresswoman from Los Angeles, asked him to go with her to Nickerson Gardens to view the police response to gang meetings organized for the purpose of making a truce. When he arrived at the meeting place, he found hundreds of police lined up and several police cars with their sirens and lights on. The police told him they were responding to a call for help because there was a gang meeting going on.

Sheinbaum went through the police line into the meeting where he talked with gang members and listened to their views. He was trying to get some insight into their experiences, but the police became very angry with him. They did not like the fact...