Photo from Getty Images.

“Operation Hammer” was Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates’ (pictured) plan to battle gang violence with mass arrests, frequent SWAT raids and mandatory curfews.

On Aug. 1, 1988, police raided four apartments at 39th Street and Dalton Avenue. As the raid began, Tammy Moore was sitting on her porch holding her 7-month-old son. An officer struck Moore in the neck, causing her to drop her son onto the concrete; he remained unconscious for 30 minutes. Another man was struck four times by an officer wearing a weighted-knuckle sap glove. This was before police entered the apartments.

Of the 37 people the police detained, they arrested seven. Those seven were beaten, then taken to the police station, where they were told to whistle the tune to The Andy Griffith Show. Those who didn’t, or couldn’t, were beaten again. None were ever charged with a crime.

In the end, the raid turned up six ounces of pot, and less than an ounce of cocaine. The city paid out $4 million in damages, a record at the time.