Operation Hammer (1987-1990)

March 09, 2022 
/ Contributed By: Samuel Momodu

LA Police Raid (NoOlympics LA)|South LA Gang Sweep (The Mirror)

L.A. Police Raid (NoOlympics LA)

Operation Hammer, a law enforcement program by the Los Angeles Police Department that began in 1987 was ostensibly an attempt to crack down on gang violence in Los Angeles, California. Many critics, however, saw the operation as racial profiling because it targeted the city’s African American and Hispanic youth.

The origin of Operation Hammer can be traced back to the 1984 Summer Olympics which were held in Los Angeles, California. Under the supervision of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chief Darrel Francis “Daryl” Gates, the LAPD expanded gang sweeps during the Olympics ostensibly to protect the tens of thousands of outside visitors and Los Angeles residents expected to attend the games. Many of the events were scheduled for the Los Angeles Colosseum located in South Central Los Angeles, a major area of gang activity. The main areas the LAPD targeted were South Central and East Los Angeles and the tactics used included mass arrests and detention of suspected gang members.

Yet, even after the Olympics ended, the LAPD used old anti-syndicalist laws designed to curb the activities of 19th Century labor activists and political radicals, against members of the two largest 1980s gangs, the Crips and the Bloods. Again, the LAPD arrested hundreds of Black and Hispanic boys and young men who were “suspected” gang members. Despite these arrests, many of them were never charged with a specific crime and were subsequently released.

In April 1987, the LAPD began Operation Hammer after a group of people were shot on their front lawn in a drive-by shooting at a birthday party in South Central Los Angeles. Chief Gates responded by a round-up of gang members. Arrests of suspected gang members continued through 1987 and into 1988. At the height of Operation Hammer in April 1988, 1,453 people were arrested by one thousand police officers in South Los Angeles on a single weekend.

Citizens who weren’t suspected gang members also were victims of Operation Hammer. On August 1, 1988, 88 LAPD police officers raided two apartment buildings located on the corner of 39th Street and Dalton Avenue. When the police arrived, they searched for drugs and in the process caused massive property damage, including smashing furniture, punching holes in the walls, and destroying family photos. The police sprayed graffiti messages such as “LAPD Rules” and “Rollin 30’s Harlem Crips” Die. These tactics were clearly designed to intimidate both drug members and apartment residents who were believed to be sheltering them and protecting their criminal activity. During the raid many residents in the apartment building and neighborhood were rounded up, beaten, and humiliated. Despite these brutal tactics, the police raid netted fewer than six ounces of marijuana and less than an ounce of cocaine.

South LA Gang Sweep (The Mirror)

South L.A. Gang Sweep (The Mirror)

By the time Operation Hammer ended in 1990, it was estimated that over 50,000 people had been arrested in its raids. The LAPD arrested far more young black men and women than even in the 1965 Watts Riots. Operation Hammer clearly employed racial profiling that targeted African American and Hispanic youth. The anger and frustration from that profiling as well as the police assault of motorist Rodney King contributed to the Rodney King Riots in 1992.

About the Author

Author Profile

Samuel Momodu, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, received his Associate of Arts Degree in History from Nashville State Community College in December 2014 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Tennessee State University in May 2016. He received his Master of Arts Degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University in June 2019.

Momodu’s main areas of research interest are African and African American History. His passion for learning Black history led him to contribute numerous entries to BlackPast.org for the last few years. Momodu has also worked as a history tour guide at President Andrew Jackson’s plantation home near Nashville, the Hermitage. He is currently an instructor at Tennessee State University. His passion for history has also helped him continue his education. In 2024, he received his Ph.D. in History from Liberty University, writing a dissertation titled The Protestant Vatican: Black Churches Involvement in the Nashville Civil Rights Movement 1865-1972. He hopes to use his Ph.D. degree to become a university professor or professional historian.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Momodu, S. (2022, March 09). Operation Hammer (1987-1990). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/operation-hammer-1987-1990/

Source of the Author's Information:

“Operation Hammer,” PBS, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/interviews/gates.html; “Operation Hammer,” The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/want-understand-1992-la-riots-start-1984-la-olympics/; The Media Awareness Project, http://www.mapinc.org/newscsdp/v01/n450/a05.html; Alexander Cockburn and Jeffery St. Clair, Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press (London: Verso Books, 1999).

Discover More

Michael Lockett Garrett (1944- )

Michael Lockett Garrett is a Heisman Memorial Trophy (Heisman Trophy)-winning footballplayer who spent eight years playing in the National Football League...