LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rodney King, who died Sunday after a troubled life, never meant to change the Los Angeles Police Department — but that’s what he ended up doing.

The mention of King’s name will always recall painful video images of his 1991 beating and the following year’s Los Angeles riots, which were sparked by the acquittals of the officers and resulted in vast destruction and dozens of deaths.

But the King affair also transformed basic practices of policing, not just in Los Angeles but across the country, author Lou Cannon said.