Noisey released a documentary entitled The Story Of Fuck Tha Police today (September 9). Along with interviews with N.W.A members Ice Cube and DJ Yella, the film also includes interviews with Tim “Blondie” Brennan and Robert Ladd, two former officers who served in the Compton Police Department’s gang unit from 1982 to 2000. “We were there,” Ladd says. “They were singing about us, not anybody else. It was about the Compton Police.”
“I knew Eazy-E at that time and I had arrested him before they started N.W.A,” Brennan describes. “In our career we’ve been to thousands of shooting scenes, hundreds and hundreds of murder victims and thousands of gunshot victims… It was total chaos. Some nights you’d hear a gang war going on and you’d hear a volley of 30 to 40 shots in one area. By the time you get there you’ve got victims down all over and you’re already seeing the guys that are friends of these gang members already talking about ‘we know who it is’ and they’d be loading up and jumping into cars and five minutes later when we’re trying to get information on this shooting and we’re hearing the shooting and retaliation in the other area. Most of the citizens of Compton didn’t want their house or front yard taken over by some gang members selling drugs. These people were afraid to come out of their own house.”
Even though Brennan and Ladd were Compton Police Officers, they were not particularly upset by “Fuck Tha Police” because they understood N.W.A’s perspective when the group created the song. However, older police officers that came from a generation where people did not talk back to police officers were frustrated by the release.
“When that song came out,” Brennan says before continuing, “I don’t think it bothered us as much because on a daily basis we dealt with these guys. We worked the gangs quite a bit and we kind of understood it. Other places that were further removed, smaller towns across the country, they were more upset. They were worried.”
Brennan also describes how the N.W.A classic brought Compton national recognition.
“It was more of a story to us about their interactions with the police, what they saw everyday, the drive-by shootings the people getting killed, the drugs being dealt. It seemed like everywhere we went, when they released that song ‘Fuck Tha Police’ it was playing throughout the neighborhoods. It went across other parts of the country real quick. No one had ever heard of the town I’d been working in. Then that song came out and that’s what kind of put Compton on the map.”
Watch the full film below:
https://youtu.be/6k-y_p3-PDo
JUSTINE “CULTURE VULTURE” CUNTE-ABSOLUTE 100% HOT GARBAGE
Thank you for the comment, THISSITEISTRASH. And thank you sincerely for writing in ALL CAPS as well.
Justin Hunte,
People like THISSITEISTRASH dont care to hear thr other side. They like the “fuck the police” side better because it fits the narrative which is innocent fun lovin black kids being harrassed by police. This piece gives reason to why police act out the way they do. Its cool to hear n.w.a, mc eiht and so on talk about poppin a cap and droppin bodies but police have to pick those shells and bodies up, not a “fun lovin scene”. Id want to beat some asses too.. thanks for this..
Thank you, Charlie Chuckles. It’s wild thinking back to Reagan and Bush I’s War on Drugs. Black men were explicitly targeted, that much is obvious and tragic. But it’s also crazy looking back at clips of Black politicians supporting the War On Drugs and the idea of extreme mandatory sentencing. Were they corrupt and selling out their communities? Maybe, at best. Were they speaking for families in communities ravaged by drug related violence? Most likely. Few people had it anywhere close to “easy,” let’s say.
@ Charlie I think you and THISSITEISTRASH have more in common than you think . The fact that you use the analogy “Fun loving kids having fun ” says it all really I can tell by the way you have structured your argument that you have had the privilege of growing up in a nice safe neighbourhood . It’s funny what growing up in an area/environment with sub standard housing/schooling/generational poverty will do to a young mind . I wonder how you would frame the world if you grew up in the same environment as some of these people ?
It’s common to think of gangs as full of down-on-their-luck Robin Hoods, but the truth is actually closer to this. Hundreds of murders, bystanders taking bullets, communities rotting from the inside out, and ADMITTED drug dealers/gang members complaining about being stopped by the police.
That’s what I think is most interesting about the conversation. The same side of the conversation has been focused on during the SOC media blitz along with the numerous recent cases of police brutality (as it should’ve been). Hearing another side of the situation resonates whether or not commiseration is reached. Plus, if Brennan and Ladd truly served on the CPD for 18 years, in a sense they’re also part of the Compton community. There’s a clip where Ladd shows autographed memorabilia given to him by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It doesn’t change the state of affairs, but it is an uncommon dichotomy. Thank you for the comment, rekkington.
Totally true.. two sides to every story like you guys have stated. But I don’t think the hood would be so dangerous if our government focused tax dollars on improving these neighborhoods.. but that’s a totally different story. Nice to hear a cops perspective, but it sounds like these guys are the good cops and not the ones that society is tired of.
@yoo yea where i’m from they’ve started ‘segregating’ the poor people and whackos from the others and putting them into middle income communities in subsidised housing. it actually works really well.
@ yoo well said life is RARELY black and white no matter what FOX news tells you ..It’s hard to take any posters serious on this site when most of the commentators are narrowed minded hate filled racists .Hi Rekkington
Justin Hunte is a complete joke man smh
It was best just to keep races seperated. All races. Every race needs to live with they own. Nothing good really comes with mixing races or living around other races. Sadly though as a black person it was us who wanted to be around all these other races. So dont bitch and whine now that you got what you wanted. Live with it and deal with it cause it’s what you wanted and it is what it is now.
Dont get mad at white cops when this is what you asked for. You wanted to be mixed up with all these races so you got what you wanted. Quit ya damn crying and move on.
You really are the lowest hanging fruit on the tree …It’s so obvious you are a corny racist suburban white male ..Your post stinks of racism …You really need to improve your social engineering game fucking loser .LOL
Cube talking about they were harassed for no reason, meanwhile he admits he was dealing drugs back then, as was Eazy, which is how Ruthless was originally funded. C’mon mannnn….