We all tut tutted in our comfortable, civilized homes and sat back waiting for JUSTICE.

To recap the story.  Rodney King was on probation for a robbery offense when patrol men detected him speeding.  Instead of pulling over he fled hitting speeds of 115 mph.  He was worried he would have his probation revoked.  When the chasing officers finally pulled him over a struggle ensued.  It is debatable what caused this struggle but some other officers quickly decided that King was resisting arrest.  Two shots from a Taser gun were fired into King by Sgt Koon and when that failed to subdue him all the officers joined in beating him senseless.

What the officers hadnt realised was that the incident was videod by a man living nearby.  This tape sent shockwaves around the world, igniting an already enraged and frustrated African American community. 
When the officers were acquitted a year later by an all white jury this fury erupted into one of the worst single riots in American histroy.  The date was 29th April 1992 and it resulted in 53 people dead.

In the midst of the furor King was quoted as saying "Can we all just get along?"
He eventually won $3.8 million in damages from the City of Los Angeles for the beating incident which was lost through some unfortunate investments. 

But this still leaves the feeling of unfairness.  For the riots were caused by a deep frustration about the lack of justice.  Racial profiling and abuse by the police has still long gone unchecked.

Second, if every incident resulted in a full swat response, not much of anything else would get done.  Investigators assessed the situation.  It appeared to be a one off lovers revenge incident.  Not that this is not a horrific tragedy in itself.  All our hearts go out to the victims.

Third, we should stop thinking about CSI and that everything in law enforcement happens instantaneously now. Interviewing witnesses, processing crime scenes, gathering evidence take HOURS and sometimes DAYS depending on the crime.  If the first murder happened within two hours, the investigators would have been lucky to get a suspect description and find a few witnesses. However, they had already developed a suspect and information, from  a witness, to believe the suspect  had already left campus and was believed to be fleeing the state . Never the less, everyone expects a decision to shut down the university which is basically a small town of 30,000 people immediately, especially when the AVAILABLE INFORMATION is that the police believe the suspect left and was gone BASED ON witness information which is ALL they have to go on at that point in time. Just think about the circumstances and vastness of this tradgedy and stop blaming people already before we know all of the information available. The honest truth  is if someone has already made up their mind that they want to kill someone and have no problem with dying themselves, there is little anyone including any law enforcement official can do to stop that person with that much determination. Unfortunately, the person that committed these acts was one of those persons.

Additionally, any one of the responding officers would have done everything to save as many people as they could because that is what  they do. Take a step back and really look at what happened and see that there is something very seriously wrong with a nation that  allows anyone to  buy guns and take them to school.   

Glen Fergusson - Sales and Marketing manager for a brand new Californian Porsche dealer has lost his job and faces possible legal proceedings as the company strives to reclaim the costs of the 18 Porches given away free under Glen's Opening day "buy one get one free promotion".  "I admit I didn't really do the numbers properly on this one" said Glen who told reporters that he had "seen the concept work really well for coffee stores" and in terms of numbers you could argue that Glen's campaign worked.  The new Porsche dealer sold 18 Porches in the first hour of the store opening."

What a shame there arent more enterprising marketing managers.  The publicity this won them is priceless!    We have all seen the 'buy a holiday get one free' schemes used to fill the flights and hotels.  And the restaurants and coffee bars that are all thriving on increased custom.   

How about:  'pay  this years  tax and get next years free'   'pay this years school fee's up front and get next years free'   'Pay one year's utilities and get one year free'   'Pay one years interest on your credit card and get one year's credit free'     'pay your rent up front and get next year's free' Or better still 'Buy one house and get one free (for grandma)'.

Any one got any good promotion suggestions?