was 16 when television screens across America were filled with grainy footage of Los Angeles police officers beating a black motorist named Rodney King on a highway, their kicks and baton strikes illuminated by the faint glow of a patrol car’s headlights.
The fine print about how she’ll do it has yet to be written.
In 2000, four veteran officers known as “the Riders” were charged with planting drugs on citizens and committing assaults. Although none of them was convicted, the case resulted in a lawsuit that led to a $10.9 million settlement and a federal consent decree. Outlaw worked briefly as a beat cop and then held multiple other posts, including captain in Internal Affairs, before rising to deputy chief. “I was assigned cases where the hard calls had to be made,” she told Willamette Week.