Los Angeles Police Department
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the police department
of the city of Los Angeles
, California
. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of 498 square miles (1,289.8 km²) with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in the United States, after the New York City Police Department
and Chicago Police Department
.
The LAPD has been copiously fictionalized in numerous movies, novels and television shows throughout its history. The department has also been associated with a number of controversies, mainly concerned with racial animosity
, police brutality
and police corruption
.
and "vice
". The first paid force was created in 1869, when six officers were hired to serve under City Marshal William C. Warren. By 1900, under John M. Glass
, there were 70 officers, one for every 1,500 people. In 1903, with the start of the Civil Service, this force was increased to 200.
During World War II
, under Clemence B. Horrall
, the overall number of personnel was depleted by the demands of the military. Despite efforts to maintain numbers, the police could do little to control the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots
.
Horrall was replaced by a retired Marine
general, William A. Worton
, who acted as interim chief until 1950, when William H. Parker succeeded him and would serve until his death in 1966. Parker advocated police professionalism and autonomy from civilian administration. However, the Bloody Christmas
scandal in 1951 led to calls for civilian accountability and an end to alleged police brutality.
Under Parker, Inspector Daryl Gates
LAPD also created the first SWAT
(Special Weapons and Tactics) team in United States law enforcement Officer John Nelson and then-inspector Daryl Gates created the program in 1965 to deal with threats from radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party
operating during the Vietnam War
era.
The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners is a five-member body of appointed officials which oversees the LAPD. The board is responsible for setting policies for the department and overseeing the LAPD's overall management and operations. The Chief of Police reports to the board, but the rest of the department reports to the chief. The old headquarters for the LAPD was the Parker Center
, named after former chief William H. Parker, which still stands at 150 N. Los Angeles St. The new headquarters is the new Police Administration Building located at 100 W. 1st St., immediately south of Los Angeles City Hall, which officially opened in October 2009.
Real-time Analysis and Critical Response Division/COMPSTAT
(Computer Statistics) maintains crime data. It holds regular weekly meetings within a purpose-built suite in the new Parker Building (Police Administration Building) with the Chief of Police and senior officers. COMPSTAT is based on the NYPD CompStat unit that was created in 1994 by former LAPD Chief William Bratton, while he was still a NYPD Police Commissioner
. He implemented the LAPD version on becoming Chief of Police in 2002.
The Real-Time Analysis & Critical Response Division began operations in March 2006. It is composed of the Department Operations Section, which includes the Department Operations Center Unit, Department Operations Support Unit and the Incident Command Post Unit; Detective Support Section and the Crime Analysis Section.
The Central Bureau is responsible for downtown Los Angeles
and Eastern Los Angeles
, and is the most densely populated of the four patrol bureaus. It consists of five patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Central Division
The Central Area (#1) station serves the majority of downtown Los Angeles
, including Los Angeles City Hall
, the Los Angeles Convention Center
, the Staples Center
, the Fashion District
, and the Financial District
.
Hollenbeck Division
The Hollenbeck Area (#4) community police station serves the easternmost portions of the city of Los Angeles
, including the communities of Boyle Heights
, Lincoln Heights
, and El Sereno
.
Newton Division
The Newton Area (#13) serves South Los Angeles, as well as portions of downtown Los Angeles
, including part of the Fashion District
.
Northeast Division
The Northeast Area (#11) is responsible for parts of central Los Angeles including Elysian Park
(Dodger Stadium
) and Silver Lake
, along with the easternmost parts of Los Feliz
and Hollywood
, as well as the northeast Los Angeles communities of Highland Park, Eagle Rock, and Glassell Park.
Rampart Division
The Rampart Area
(#2) serves regions to the west and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles
including Echo Park
, Pico-Union and Westlake
, all together designated as the Rampart Division's patrol area. It was the Rampart Division building, which was newly constructed at the time, that served as the home station in the Jack Webb
created police drama Adam-12
, although the show used the number designation (1), for Central Division.
with the exception of Inglewood
and Compton
, which are both separate cities that maintain their own law enforcement agencies (in Compton's case, a contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
). The South Bureau consists of four patrol divisions, Criminal Gang and Homicide Division and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
77th Street Division
The 77th Street Area (#12) serves a portion of South Los Angeles
, roughly in an area south of Vernon Avenue, west of the Harbor Freeway, north of Manchester Avenue and points west to the city limits, including the Crenshaw
region. A section of South Central Los Angeles
that borders Florence, Central and Manchester Avenues to the Harbor Freeway is also part of this division.
Harbor Division
The Harbor Area (#5) serves all of San Pedro, Wilmington
and the Harbor Gateway
annex south of Artesia Boulevard. This division often works with the Port of Los Angeles Police
. The 260 patrol officers, detectives and support staff are operated out of the new $40-million, 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) police station, which was opened on Friday, April 25, 2009. It is located at 2175 John S. Gibson Blvd.
Southeast Division
The Southeast Area (#18), like the 77th Street Division, patrols a part of South Los Angeles
. Their area extends to the city limits north of Artesia Boulevard, includes Watts
, and areas south of Manchester Avenue.
Southwest Division
The Southwest Area (#3) serves all of the city limits south of the Santa Monica Freeway, west of the Harbor Freeway, north of Vernon Avenue, and east of the Culver City/Lennox
/Baldwin Hills
area. This section also includes the University of Southern California
and Exposition Park
.
. It consists of seven patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Mission Division
The Mission Area (#19) community police station began operations in May 2005. This was the first new station to be created in more than a quarter of a century. The Mission Area covers the eastern half of the old Devonshire and the western half of the Foothill divisions in the San Fernando Valley
, including Mission Hills
and Panorama City.
Devonshire Division
The Devonshire Area (#17) is responsible for the northwestern parts of the San Fernando Valley
, including parts of Chatsworth and Northridge
Foothill Division
The Foothill Area (#16) patrols parts of the San Fernando Valley
(including Sun Valley
) and the Crescenta Valley
(including Sunland
-Tujunga).
North Hollywood Division
The North Hollywood Area (#15) is responsible for Studio City, Valley Village and the North Hollywood region.
Van Nuys Division
The Van Nuys Area (#9) serves the area of Van Nuys, California.
West Valley Division
The West Valley Area (#10) is responsible for parts of the San Fernando Valley
, including parts of Encino, Northridge, Reseda and Winnetka, where it is based.
Topanga Division
The Topanga (#21) community police station began operations on January 4, 2009. It is responsible for parts of the San Fernando Valley
that are within the city's 3rd Council District (represented by former officer Dennis Zine), including Woodland Hills
and Canoga Park
, where it is based.
area, the UCLA campus and Venice. This does not include Beverly Hills
and Santa Monica
, which are separate from Los Angeles and maintain their own law enforcement agencies. The West Bureau consists of five patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Hollywood Division
The Hollywood Area (#6) community police station serves the Hollywood
region, including the Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Boulevard
and the Sunset Strip
.
Wilshire Division
The Wilshire Area (#7) community police station serves the Mid-Wilshire
"Miracle Mile" region, including Koreatown
, Mid-City
, Carthay
, and the Fairfax District
.
Pacific Division
The Pacific Area (#14) community police station serves the southern portion of West Los Angeles
, including Venice Beach, Venice and Playa del Rey
. Some officers assigned to the Pacific Division are commonly assigned to work with the Los Angeles Airport Police
at the Los Angeles International Airport
. Pacific Division was formerly known as "Venice Division."
West Los Angeles Division
The West Los Angeles Area (#8) community police station serves the northern portion of the West Side
. Communities within its service area include Pacific Palisades
, Century City, Brentwood
, Westwood
, West Los Angeles
and Cheviot Hills
. UCLA and Twentieth Century Fox are both located here.
Olympic Division
The Olympic (#20) community police station opened its doors on January 4, 2009, with an open house on January 17. The Olympic Area will be a small section of the Hollywood Division, and is composed of areas from Rampart and Wilshire divisions. It provides services to a 6.2 square miles (16.1 km²) area of the Mid-City
region, including Koreatown
and a section of the Miracle Mile
, with a population of 200,000. The 54000 square feet (5,016.8 m²) station is located at the southeast corner of Vermont Avenue and Eleventh Street and houses 293 officers. The construction cost was $34 million.
Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau was created from the merger of the Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau with the Special Operations Bureau in 2010.
Structure of the Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau
made enlarging the force one of his top priorities (Bratton has been quoted as saying, "You give me 4,000 more officers and I'll give you the safest city in the world").
The Los Angeles Police Department protects its city with only one officer for every 426 residents. As a point of comparison, New York City
boasts one NYPD officer for every 228 residents. For Los Angeles to have the same ratio of officers as New York City, the LAPD would need to add nearly 17,000 officers. Further points of comparison include Chicago, which has a ratio of one officer per 216 citizens and Philadelphia, whose officer per citizen ratio is 1 to 219.
In recent years, the department had been conducting a massive recruiting effort, with a goal of hiring an additional 1,500 police officers. One problem with such a drive is the lack of qualified candidates. The city has four specialized agencies, not directly affiliated with the LAPD, which serve the Port
, the Airport
, the City Hall, Library, and Zoo
, and the Unified School District
.
, the Ventura County
suburb that later became infamous as the site of the state trial that immediately preceded the 1992 Los Angeles riots
, has long been home to a particularly large concentration of LAPD officers, almost all of them white. A 1994 ACLU
study of officers' home zip codes, concluded that over 80% of police officers lived outside city boundaries.
Hiring quotas began to change this during the 1980s, but it was not until the Christopher Commission
reforms that substantial numbers of black, Hispanic, and Asian officers began to join the force. Minority officers can be found in both rank-and-file and leadership positions in virtually all divisions, and the LAPD is starting to reflect the general population.
The LAPD hired the first female police officer in the United States in 1910, Ms Alice Stebbins Wells
. Since then, women have been a small, but growing part of the force. Through the early 1970s, women were classified as "policewomen" on the LAPD. Through the 1950s, their duties generally consisted as working as matrons in the jail system, or dealing with troubled youths working in detective assignments. Rarely did they work any type of field assignment and they were not allowed to promote above the rank of sergeant. However, a lawsuit by a policewoman, Fanchon Blake, from the 1980s instituted court ordered mandates that the department begin actively hiring and promoting women police officers in its ranks. The department eliminated the rank of "Policeman" from new hires at that time along with the rank of "Policewoman." Anyone already in those positions was grandfathered in, but new hires were classified instead as "Police Officers," which continues to this day.
In 2002, women made up 18.9% of the force. Women have made significant strides within the ranks of the department since the days of the Fanchon Blake lawsuit. The highest rank achieved by a woman in the department is Assistant Chief, to which Sharon Papa promoted in 2003. Following a reorganization of command staff by Chief Beck in 2009 Papa is serving at the rank of Commander. Papa came to the LAPD as a Commander from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Transit Police Department in 1997. Chief Papa was the last Chief of Police from the MTA and is in command of the Valley Bureau.
The LAPD was the first police department in the United States to hire black officers. In 1886, the department hired its first two black officers, Robert William Stewart and Roy Green. Despite being the first police department to hire blacks, the LAPD had been slow at successfully integrating the department. During the 1965 Watts Riot, only 5 of the 205 police assigned to South Central Los Angeles were black, despite the fact that it was the largest black community in Los Angeles. Los Angeles' first black mayor Tom Bradley
was an ex-police officer and quit the department after being unable to advance past the rank of Lieutenant like other black police in the department. When Bradley was elected mayor in 1972, only 5% of the LAPD was black and there was only one Black Captain in the department, Homer Broome. Broome would break down racial barriers on the force going on to become first Black officer to obtain the rank of Commander and the first Black to command a police station, the Southwest Division which included historically black neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles in 1975.
According to the US Department of Justice, the LAPD was 82% male in 2000. 46% of the department was white
, 33% of the department was Hispanic/Latino
, 14% was African American
, and 7% was Asian
.
LAPD patrol officers have a three-day 12-hour and four-day 10-hour work week schedule. The department has over 250 types of job assignments, and each officer is eligible for such assignments after two years on patrol. LAPD patrol officers almost always work with a partner, unlike most suburban departments surrounding the city of Los Angeles, which deploy officers in one-officer units in order to maximize police presence and to allow a smaller number of officers to patrol a larger area.
The department's training division has three facilities throughout the city, including Elysian Park, Ahmanson Recruit Training Center (Westchester), and the Edward Davis Training Center (Granada Hills).
From spring 2007 through the spring of 2009, new recruits could earn money through sign on bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Those bonuses ended in 2009. Sign on bonuses were paid 1/2 after graduation from the academy, and 1/2 after completion of probation. Also, $2,000 could be added for out of town sign ons for housing arrangements. As of July 2009, new recruits earned starting salaries of $56,522–$61,095 depending on education level, and began earning their full salary on their first day of academy training.
As of January 2010, the starting base salary for high school graduates was lowered to $45,226. If the applicant has at least 60 college units, with an overall GPA of 2.0 or better, the applicant will start at $47,043. If the applicant has a BA or BSc (four year) degree, the applicant will start at $48,880.
The Los Angeles Police Air Support Division resources include 17 helicopters ranging from 4 Bell 206
Jet Rangers to 12 Eurocopter AS350-B2 AStars. The LAPD also has 1 Beechcraft Kingair A200 and 1 unspecified and undenied drone.
Main Airship missions are flown out of downtown's Piper Tech center at the Hooper Heliport, located outside of Union Station
. The LAPD also houses air units at Van Nuys airport.
, the Dodge Charger, and the Chevrolet Tahoe
. The department is also testing the Chevrolet Impala and the 2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV in their fleet.
"Chief's Special" as a backup revolver. In the cars, locked to a steel bar, was an Ithaca Model 37, 12-gauge shotgun, loaded with "00" (double-aught) buckshot, nine pellets to the cartridge with 1 round in the chamber and 4 in the magazine tube. The shotgun was made specifically for the Los Angeles Police Department, and was called the "L.A.P.D. Special". The shotgun was based on the Ithaca Model 37 "Deerslayer", which was a weapon designed to hunt large game with rifled slugs. As a consequence of being designed for use with slugs, it had rifle sights, unlike most shotguns. The "L.A.P.D. Special" had a dull parkerized military finish instead of the more usual high gloss blue finish. The barrel was 18 and a half inches long, as opposed to the twenty inches of the civilian version. The advantages of the Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun over the Winchester, Mossberg and Remington models were that the Ithaca weighed a pound less, and could be used with equal ease by right or left-handed shooters due to the unique bottom ejection port and loading chamber it used. In response to increasing firepower carried by criminals, including fully automatic weapons and assault rifles, LAPD patrol officers were issued Beretta 92F
. Later, officers were able to carry the Smith & Wesson Model 5906, a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, in addition to a few other approved weapons. In response to the North Hollywood shootout
of 1997, LAPD officers had the option of carrying the Smith & Wesson Model 4506 and 4566 service pistols in .45 ACP
caliber. Also due to the North Hollywood incident, qualified officers were issued patrol rifles called UPR (Urban Police Rifle) consisting mainly of AR-15
variants chambered in .223 after being certified from LAPD Urban Police Rifle School. Until 2002, LAPD officers standard issue pistol was the Beretta 92F/92FS. However, when William Bratton was appointed Chief of the LAPD, he allowed his officers to carry the Glock pistol
, a weapon which the two previous departments he was chief at (the New York City Police Department
and the Boston Police Department
) carried. New officers graduating from the LAPD academy are now issued the Glock 22 or Glock 17 but can qualify in a variety of firearms.
Officers now have the choice of carrying
Beretta
:
Smith & Wesson
:
Glock
:
The LAPD SWAT team decided to go with the Kimber Custom TLE II
in 2002, renaming it the Kimber LAPD SWAT Custom II. Before that, LAPD SWAT carried modified Springfield or Colt M1911 pistols. SWAT's primary weapons are the Heckler & Koch MP5
series submachine guns and most officers choose the fixed stock A2 model. For assistant weapons, officers carry AR-15s and CAR-15
s. In the '80s and early '90s they carried Colt RO727s and RO733s. In 2000 they imported the M4A1s. The LAPD recently announced that they will be incorporating a new shotgun, the Benelli M4 Super 90
and officers will go through additional training for the use of the semi-automatic shotgun
and will have to privately purchase the gun if they elect to switch from the standard pump-action
Remington 870
. The LAPD also has 37mm launchers and modified "beanbag" firing Remington 870s for crowd control when less than lethal force is needed.
The Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor is the highest law enforcement medal awarded to officers by the Los Angeles Police Department. The Medal of Valor is an award for bravery, usually awarded to officers for individual acts of extraordinary bravery or heroism performed in the line of duty at extreme and life-threatening personal risk.
The Liberty Award is a bravery medal for police canines killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. The award, which was inaugurated in 1990, is named after Liberty, a Metropolitan Division K-9
shot and killed in the line of duty. Liberty's handler received the Medal of Valor for the same incident. So far it has only been awarded once in the LAPD's history.
The Police Medal is an award for bravery, usually awarded to officers for individual acts of heroism in the line of duty, though not above and beyond the call of duty, as is required for the Medal of Valor.
The Police Star is an award for bravery, usually awarded to officers for performing with exceptional judgment and/or utilizing skillful tactics in order to defuse dangerous and stressful situations.
The Police Life-Saving Medal is an award for bravery, usually awarded to officers for taking action in order to rescue or attempt the rescue of either a fellow officer or any person from imminent danger.
Given to any LAPD officer who saw service during the 1984 Summer Olympics
from July 28 to August 12, 1984.
Given to LAPD officers who were used during the September 1987 pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II
.
Given to any LAPD officer who saw service during the 1992 Los Angeles riots
from April 29 to May 4, 1992.
Given to any LAPD officer who saw service during the 1994 Northridge earthquake from January 17 to January 18, 1994.
Awarded for 4000 hours of service as a Reserve Police officer.
, the LAPD's old headquarters, and was unveiled on October 1, 1971. The monument is a fountain made from black granite
, the base of which is inscribed with the names of the LAPD officers who have died while serving the City of Los Angeles
.
The cause of deaths are as follows:
following a high-speed car pursuit on March 3, 1991. Immediately following the King incident, the Christopher Commission
was formed in July 1991. The commission, chaired by attorney Warren Christopher
(who later became U.S. Secretary of State
), investigated the LAPD's hiring practices, as well as their handling of excessive force complaints. However, with the election of Richard Riordan
in 1992 before the verdict, the reforms recommended by Christopher were put on hold.
After seven days of jury deliberations
, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The evening after the verdict, thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict. Widespread looting
, assault
, arson
, and murder
occurred, and property damages totaled one billion dollars. In all, 53 people died during the riots.
scandal
of the late 1990s - early 2000s, the United States Department of Justice
entered into a consent decree with the LAPD regarding numerous civil rights violations. Mayor Richard J. Riordan and the Los Angeles city council agreed to the terms of the decree on November 2, 2000. The federal judge formally entered the decree into law on June 15, 2001. The consent decree is legally binding, and lasted until July 17, 2009, when U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess terminated it. Under the terms of a transitional agreement approved by Feess, the Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of Inspector General, which monitors the Department on behalf of the Board of Police Commissioners, will assume responsibility for keeping tabs on the department's efforts to fully implement a few still-incomplete or recently finished reforms. If lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice are not satisfied with the oversight by the LAPD's Inspector General, the agreement allows them to object and bring the department back before Feess.
The Rampart scandal mainly surrounded the unethical and illegal actions of members of the LAPD's anti-gang unit, Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
(CRASH). In particular, Javier Ovando
, an unarmed teenager, had been shot and paralyzed by then-officer Rafael Pérez
. After the shooting, Pérez planted a gun on Ovando and claimed self-defense. Ovando was sent to prison, although later he was exonerated and released. By 2001, the resulting investigations would lead to more than 75 officers being investigated or charged and over 100 criminal cases being overturned due to perjury or other forms of misconduct
The DOJ-LAPD Consent Decree places emphasis on the following nine major areas:
The Consent Decree includes several recommendations from the Rampart Board of Inquiry, and several Consent Decree provisions mandate the Department to continue existing policies. Some of the more complex or major provisions in the Decree call for the following:
There are several stakeholders in the LAPD Consent Decree compliance process. At the federal level, stakeholders include:
As the Consent Decree is a binding agreement between the City and the DOJ, the following City entities are key stakeholders:
The Consent Decree Bureau was the LAPD bureau charged with overseeing this process. Until 2009, the Commanding Officer of the Consent Decree Bureau, a civilian appointed by the Chief of Police, was Police Administrator Gerald L. Chaleff.
's role in the Nicole Simpson/Ron Goldman
murder investigation (1994), as well as the Rampart scandal
-related Javier Ovando
incident (In which Ovando, an unarmed teenage gang member, was shot, paralyzed, and framed by officers Rafael Perez
and Nino Durden
(1996) and served 2½ years of a 23 year sentence before being exonerated), the controversy surrounding the arrest of Stanley Miller
(2004), the shooting death of 19-month-old Suzie Pena, who was shot in the head by police while being used as a human shield by her father (2005), and the LAPD's reaction to illegal immigrant rallies (2007).
In 1962, the controversial LAPD shooting of 7 unarmed members of the Nation of Islam
resulted in the death of Ronald Stokes, and led to protests of the LAPD led by Malcolm X
and the Nation of Islam. In 1972, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt
was framed by members of both the LAPD and FBI, and his conviction was overturned on appeal on February 18, 1999. In 1988, African-American baseball
sportscaster and retired Baseball Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan
was detained at Los Angeles International Airport
by LAPD and L.A. Airport Police officers after falsely being identified as a drug dealer. He was released when the LAPD realized their mistake in identity. Morgan subsequently filed a civil suit against both the LAPD and the city after he was denied the opportunity to file a formal complaint against the LAPD. The lawsuit would eventually be settled in 1993, and Morgan was awarded $800,000 by the Los Angeles City Council.
In 1986, the Department purchased a 14-ton armored breaching vehicle, used to smash quickly through the walls of houses of suspects. The ACLU questioned the Constitutionality of the vehicle. Ultimately, the California Appellate Court ruled that the vehicle was unconstitutional, violating lawful search and seizure.
Early in his tenure as Chief of Police, Daryl Gates re-instituted the use of the choke hold (placing an arm or flashlight over someone's throat) to subdue suspects. In 1982, however, this technique left one suspect, James Mincey, Jr. in a coma for two weeks prior to his eventual death. An investigation into the use of the choke hold found that sixteen people had died soon after being restrained by police choke holds. After the NAACP and ACLU brought this to the attention to the public, the Department discontinued the use of the choke hold.
In 1991, just prior to the highly public Rodney King beating, the department came under fire for brutality. One suspect, Michael Allen, was forced to lie on the ground. After verbally assaulting officers, Allen was struck, while in handcuffs, on the back of the head with a flashlight, causing Allen to go blind in one eye. After Allen had been completely subdued, offices shocked Allen with a stun gun.
The widely-publicized case of Christine and Walter Collins was depicted in the 2008 film Changeling. In March 1928, Christine Collins reported her nine-year-old son, Walter, missing. Five months later a boy named Arthur Hutchins came forth claiming to be Walter. When Mrs. Collins tried to tell the police that the boy was not her son, she was committed to a mental institution under a Section 12 internment. It was later determined that Walter had actually fallen victim to a child rapist/murderer in the infamous Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Arthur Hutchins eventually admitted that he had lied about his identity in order to get to Hollywood and meet his favorite actor, Tom Mix
.
In 2008, officer Russell Mecano offered to not arrest a woman in exchange for sex, and offered cash to another woman in exchange for sex. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 8 years.
as the primary character, was the first major media representation of the department. Real LAPD operations inspired Jack Webb
to create the series and close cooperation with department officers let him make it as realistic as possible, including authentic police equipment and sound recording on-site at the police station.
Due to Dragnets popularity, LAPD Chief Parker "became, after J. Edgar Hoover
, the most well known and respected law enforcement official in the nation." In the 1960s, when the LAPD under Chief Thomas Reddin
expanded its community relations division and began efforts to reach out to the African-American community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay.
Several prominent representations of the LAPD and its officers in television and film include Adam-12
, Blue Streak
, Blue Thunder
, Boomtown, The Closer
, Colors
, Crash
, Columbo, Dark Blue, Die Hard
, Heat, Hunter, Internal Affairs
, Lakeview Terrace
, Law & Order: Los Angeles
, The Shield
, Southland
, Speed, Street Kings, SWAT, Training Day
and the Lethal Weapon
, Rush Hour
and Terminator
film series. The LAPD is also featured in the video games Midnight Club: Los Angeles
, L.A. Noire
and Call of Juarez: The Cartel
.
The LAPD has also been the subject of numerous novels. Elizabeth Linington
used the department as her backdrop in three different series written under three different names, perhaps the most popular being those novel featuring Det. Lt. Luis Mendoza, who was introduced in the Edgar-nominated
Case Pending. Joseph Wambaugh
, the son of a Pittsburgh policeman, spent fourteen years in the department, using his background to write novels with authentic fictional depictions of life in the LAPD. Wambaugh also created the Emmy-winning
TV anthology series Police Story. Wambaugh was also a major influence on James Ellroy
, who wrote several novels about the Department set during the 1940s and 1950s, the most famous of which are probably The Black Dahlia
, fictionalizing the LAPD's most famous "cold case", and L.A. Confidential
, which was made into a film of the same name
. Both the novel and the film chronicled mass-murder and corruption inside and outside the force during the Parker era. Critic Roger Ebert
indicates that the film's characters (from the 1950s) "represent the choices ahead for the LAPD": assisting Hollywood limelight, aggressive policing with relaxed ethics, and a "straight arrow" approach.
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
of the city of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of 498 square miles (1,289.8 km²) with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in the United States, after the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
and Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
.
The LAPD has been copiously fictionalized in numerous movies, novels and television shows throughout its history. The department has also been associated with a number of controversies, mainly concerned with racial animosity
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
and police corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
.
History
The first specific Los Angeles police force was founded in 1853 as the Los Angeles Rangers, a volunteer force that assisted the existing County forces. The Rangers were soon succeeded by the Los Angeles City Guards, another volunteer group. Neither force was particularly efficient and Los Angeles became known for its violence, gamblingGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and "vice
Vice
Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption...
". The first paid force was created in 1869, when six officers were hired to serve under City Marshal William C. Warren. By 1900, under John M. Glass
John M. Glass
John M. Glass was a mayor of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Chief of Police of Los Angeles, California.-Jeffersonville:John Glass was the Marshal of Jeffersonville, Indiana, from 1879 to 1883 before becoming the mayor of Jeffersonville. He defeated Luther Warder for mayoral and served as mayor from...
, there were 70 officers, one for every 1,500 people. In 1903, with the start of the Civil Service, this force was increased to 200.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, under Clemence B. Horrall
Clemence B. Horrall
Clemence B. Horrall was Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Police from June 16, 1941, when he succeeded Arthur C. Hohmann to serve as the 41st Chief of the L.A.P.D., and June 28, 1949, when he resigned under pressure during a grand jury investigation of police corruption...
, the overall number of personnel was depleted by the demands of the military. Despite efforts to maintain numbers, the police could do little to control the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that erupted in Los Angeles, California between white sailors and Marines stationed throughout thehi c mlc city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored...
.
Horrall was replaced by a retired Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
general, William A. Worton
William A. Worton
William A. Worton , a former Marine Corps General, served as interim Los Angeles Police Department police chief from June 1949 to 1950....
, who acted as interim chief until 1950, when William H. Parker succeeded him and would serve until his death in 1966. Parker advocated police professionalism and autonomy from civilian administration. However, the Bloody Christmas
Bloody Christmas
Bloody Christmas was the name given to the severe beating of seven men by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department on December 25, 1951. The attacks, which left five Latino and two White young men with broken bones and ruptured organs, was only properly investigated after lobbying from the...
scandal in 1951 led to calls for civilian accountability and an end to alleged police brutality.
Under Parker, Inspector Daryl Gates
Daryl Gates
Daryl Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978 to 1992.-Early life:...
LAPD also created the first SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
(Special Weapons and Tactics) team in United States law enforcement Officer John Nelson and then-inspector Daryl Gates created the program in 1965 to deal with threats from radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
operating during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
era.
Organization
Parker Center
Parker Center was the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1954 until October 2009, and is located in Downtown LA. It is named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally with the prosaic name, the Police Administration Building, ground for the center was broken on...
, named after former chief William H. Parker, which still stands at 150 N. Los Angeles St. The new headquarters is the new Police Administration Building located at 100 W. 1st St., immediately south of Los Angeles City Hall, which officially opened in October 2009.
Office of the Chief
The Office of the Chief of Police is the administrative office comprising the Chief of Staff, Employee Relations Group, the Public Information Office, and RACR/COMPSTAT. Also reporting to the Chief of Police is the Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing, whose office is divided into Fiscal Operations Division, Risk Management Division, Research and Planning Division, and Internal Audits and Inspections Division. The Professional Standards Bureau, which includes the Internal Affairs Group, Special Operations Division and Force Investigation Division, also reports directly to the Chief of Police.Real-time Analysis and Critical Response Division/COMPSTAT
CompStat
CompStat—or COMPSTAT— is the name given to the New York City Police Department's accountability process and has since been replicated in many other departments...
(Computer Statistics) maintains crime data. It holds regular weekly meetings within a purpose-built suite in the new Parker Building (Police Administration Building) with the Chief of Police and senior officers. COMPSTAT is based on the NYPD CompStat unit that was created in 1994 by former LAPD Chief William Bratton, while he was still a NYPD Police Commissioner
New York City Police Commissioner
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department, appointed by the Mayor of New York City. Governor Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his final acts before becoming Vice President of the United States in March 1901, signed legislation replacing the Police Board...
. He implemented the LAPD version on becoming Chief of Police in 2002.
The Real-Time Analysis & Critical Response Division began operations in March 2006. It is composed of the Department Operations Section, which includes the Department Operations Center Unit, Department Operations Support Unit and the Incident Command Post Unit; Detective Support Section and the Crime Analysis Section.
Office of Operations
The majority of the LAPD's approximately 10,000 officers are assigned within the Office of Operations, whose primary office is located in the new Police Administration Building. An Assistant Chief commands the office, and reports directly to the Chief of Police. The LAPD comprises 21 stations, known officially as "Areas" but also commonly referred to as "Divisions." The 21 stations are grouped geographically into four command areas, each known as a "Bureau." The latest areas, "Olympic" and "Topanga," were added on January 4, 2009.Structure chart
Operations - Central Bureau
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
and Eastern Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (region)
East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...
, and is the most densely populated of the four patrol bureaus. It consists of five patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Central Division
The Central Area (#1) station serves the majority of downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, including Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council...
, the Los Angeles Convention Center
Los Angeles Convention Center
The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest portion of downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show and Anime Expo, and is best known to video games fans as host to E3...
, the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
, the Fashion District
Fashion District, Los Angeles, California
The Fashion District is a design, warehouse, and distribution nexus of the clothing, accessories and fabric industry in Downtown Los Angeles. The Fashion District spans 90 blocks and is the hub of the apparel industry on the West Coast of the United States....
, and the Financial District
Financial District, Los Angeles, California
The Financial District is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles on the redeveloped section of Bunker Hill. The area is dominated by upscale corporate office skyscrapers, hotels and related services as well as banks, law firms, and real estate companies...
.
Hollenbeck Division
The Hollenbeck Area (#4) community police station serves the easternmost portions of the city of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, including the communities of Boyle Heights
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California
Boyle Heights is a neighborhood east of Downtown Los Angeles on the East Side of Los Angeles. For much of the twentieth century, Boyle Heights was a gateway for new immigrants. This resulted in diverse demographics, including Jewish American, Japanese American and Mexican American populations,...
, Lincoln Heights
Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California
-Geography and transportation:Lincoln Heights is bounded by the Los Angeles River on the west, the San Bernardino Freeway on the south, and Indiana Street on the east; the district's Eastern border is unclear due to the area's uneven terrain...
, and El Sereno
El Sereno, Los Angeles, California
El Sereno is a district in Eastern Los Angeles, California.El Sereno sits atop the Monterey Hills that separate the Los Angeles Basin from the San Gabriel Valley, and is the easternmost district in the city of Los Angeles...
.
Newton Division
The Newton Area (#13) serves South Los Angeles, as well as portions of downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, including part of the Fashion District
Fashion District, Los Angeles, California
The Fashion District is a design, warehouse, and distribution nexus of the clothing, accessories and fabric industry in Downtown Los Angeles. The Fashion District spans 90 blocks and is the hub of the apparel industry on the West Coast of the United States....
.
Northeast Division
The Northeast Area (#11) is responsible for parts of central Los Angeles including Elysian Park
Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California
Elysian Park is a park and adjacent neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California.Encompassing Chavez Ravine where Dodger Stadium is located, Elysian Park is mostly a hillside community that is also home to the Los Angeles Police Academy....
(Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
) and Silver Lake
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...
, along with the easternmost parts of Los Feliz
Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California
Los Feliz, also Rancho Los Feliz is an affluent, hilly neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, named after its land grantee José Vicente Feliz....
and Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, as well as the northeast Los Angeles communities of Highland Park, Eagle Rock, and Glassell Park.
Rampart Division
LAPD Rampart Division
The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department serves communities to the west and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles including Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its name is derived from Rampart Boulevard, one of the principal...
(#2) serves regions to the west and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
including Echo Park
Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
Echo Park is a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and southeast of Hollywood.-History:At the end of the 19th century, when the hills were still covered with native vegetation, a horse-drawn streetcar line served the dirt road that is now Echo Park Avenue...
, Pico-Union and Westlake
Westlake, Los Angeles, California
Westlake is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. It should not be confused with Westlake Village, an independent municipality in Los Angeles County near Thousand Oaks and close to the Ventura County line....
, all together designated as the Rampart Division's patrol area. It was the Rampart Division building, which was newly constructed at the time, that served as the home station in the Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
created police drama Adam-12
Adam-12
Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
, although the show used the number designation (1), for Central Division.
Operations - South Bureau
The South Bureau oversees South Los AngelesSouth Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
with the exception of Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
and Compton
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
, which are both separate cities that maintain their own law enforcement agencies (in Compton's case, a contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
). The South Bureau consists of four patrol divisions, Criminal Gang and Homicide Division and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
77th Street Division
The 77th Street Area (#12) serves a portion of South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
, roughly in an area south of Vernon Avenue, west of the Harbor Freeway, north of Manchester Avenue and points west to the city limits, including the Crenshaw
Crenshaw, Los Angeles, California
Crenshaw is a neighborhood and district in southwestern Los Angeles, California. It derives its name from Crenshaw Boulevard, one of the city's principal thoroughfares....
region. A section of South Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
that borders Florence, Central and Manchester Avenues to the Harbor Freeway is also part of this division.
Harbor Division
The Harbor Area (#5) serves all of San Pedro, Wilmington
Wilmington, Los Angeles, California
Wilmington is a district of Los Angeles, with industry as its primary economic activity. It lies adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Harbor City. Wilmington is the site of Banning House and Drum Barracks, or Camp Drum, the only major American Civil War landmark in California. The...
and the Harbor Gateway
Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, California
The Harbor Gateway is a neighborhood in southern part of the city of Los Angeles, California. As of the 2000 census, the neighborhood had a population of 39,860.-Description:...
annex south of Artesia Boulevard. This division often works with the Port of Los Angeles Police
Los Angeles Port Police
The Los Angeles Port Police is a specialized law enforcement agency at the Port of Los Angeles, under the control of the Los Angeles Harbor Department .-See also:* List of law enforcement agencies in California-External links:* *...
. The 260 patrol officers, detectives and support staff are operated out of the new $40-million, 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) police station, which was opened on Friday, April 25, 2009. It is located at 2175 John S. Gibson Blvd.
Southeast Division
The Southeast Area (#18), like the 77th Street Division, patrols a part of South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
. Their area extends to the city limits north of Artesia Boulevard, includes Watts
Watts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
, and areas south of Manchester Avenue.
Southwest Division
The Southwest Area (#3) serves all of the city limits south of the Santa Monica Freeway, west of the Harbor Freeway, north of Vernon Avenue, and east of the Culver City/Lennox
Lennox, California
Lennox is a census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 22,753 at the 2010 census, down from 22,950 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
/Baldwin Hills
Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California
Baldwin Hills is a community and neighborhood in the South Los Angeles area of Los Angeles, within southwestern Los Angeles County, California...
area. This section also includes the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and Exposition Park
Exposition Park
Exposition Park is the name of more than one place:*Exposition Park - a neighborhood in south Dallas, Texas*Exposition Park - A former baseball park in Kansas City...
.
Operations - Valley Bureau
The Valley Bureau is the largest of the four patrol bureaus in terms of size (about 221 square miles), and oversees operations within the San Fernando ValleySan Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. It consists of seven patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Mission Division
The Mission Area (#19) community police station began operations in May 2005. This was the first new station to be created in more than a quarter of a century. The Mission Area covers the eastern half of the old Devonshire and the western half of the Foothill divisions in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, including Mission Hills
Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
and Panorama City.
Devonshire Division
The Devonshire Area (#17) is responsible for the northwestern parts of the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, including parts of Chatsworth and Northridge
Foothill Division
The Foothill Area (#16) patrols parts of the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
(including Sun Valley
Sun Valley
Sun Valley is the name of several places in the United States of America:*Sun Valley, Idaho, a ski area and resort community in central Idaho*Sun Valley, Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley*Sun Valley, Nevada, a suburb north of Reno...
) and the Crescenta Valley
Crescenta Valley
The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California lying between the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills on the southwest. It opens into the San Fernando Valley at the northwest and the San Gabriel Valley at the southeast...
(including Sunland
Sunland
Sunland may refer to:* Sunland, Inyo County, California* Sunland, Los Angeles, California* Sunland , a Seaboard Air Line train*Sunland Hospital, a defunct mental health chain in Florida...
-Tujunga).
North Hollywood Division
The North Hollywood Area (#15) is responsible for Studio City, Valley Village and the North Hollywood region.
Van Nuys Division
The Van Nuys Area (#9) serves the area of Van Nuys, California.
West Valley Division
The West Valley Area (#10) is responsible for parts of the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, including parts of Encino, Northridge, Reseda and Winnetka, where it is based.
Topanga Division
The Topanga (#21) community police station began operations on January 4, 2009. It is responsible for parts of the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
that are within the city's 3rd Council District (represented by former officer Dennis Zine), including Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
and Canoga Park
Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California
Canoga Park is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States about 25 miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles....
, where it is based.
Operations - West Bureau
The West Bureau's operations cover most of the well-known areas of Los Angeles, including Hollywood, Westwood, the Hollywood HillsHollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
area, the UCLA campus and Venice. This does not include Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
and Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, which are separate from Los Angeles and maintain their own law enforcement agencies. The West Bureau consists of five patrol divisions and a traffic division, which handles traffic-related duties such as accident investigation and the issuing of citations/tickets.
Hollywood Division
The Hollywood Area (#6) community police station serves the Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
region, including the Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
and the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
.
Wilshire Division
The Wilshire Area (#7) community police station serves the Mid-Wilshire
Mid-Wilshire
Mid-Wilshire is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Wilshire region.It mostly encompasses the area bounded by La Cienega Boulevard to the west, Melrose Avenue to the north, Hoover Street to the east and the Santa Monica Freeway to the south, although some...
"Miracle Mile" region, including Koreatown
Koreatown, Los Angeles, California
Koreatown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California known for its concentration of Korean American people and institutions...
, Mid-City
Mid-City, Los Angeles, California
Mid-City is a district in Los Angeles, California. It is 2.5 miles south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Lafayette Square, Victoria Park, Wellington Square, and Vineyard neighborhoods are part of the district.-Geography and history:Mid-City's boundaries are roughly...
, Carthay
Carthay, Los Angeles, California
Carthay is a residential district in the Mid-City West region of Los Angeles, California.-Geography and transportation:Carthay is bordered by the Miracle Mile District on the north, Picfair Village on the south, Beverly Hills on the northwest, and the Fairfax District on the northeast...
, and the Fairfax District
Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California
The Fairfax District is an area of neighborhoods in the Mid-City West area of Los Angeles, California.- Geography :It is roughly bordered by West Hollywood on the north, Highland Avenue on the east, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills on the west and Wilshire Boulevard on the south...
.
Pacific Division
The Pacific Area (#14) community police station serves the southern portion of West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles (region)
The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has no official definition, but, according to the Los Angeles Times, it comprises , encompassing 18 districts in the city of Los Angeles and two unincorporated neighborhoods, plus the cities of...
, including Venice Beach, Venice and Playa del Rey
Playa del Rey, Los Angeles, California
Playa del Rey is a beachside community within the city of Los Angeles, California. It has a ZIP code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424...
. Some officers assigned to the Pacific Division are commonly assigned to work with the Los Angeles Airport Police
Los Angeles Airport Police
The Los Angeles Airport Police is the largest airport police agency in the United States and the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County, with more than 1,100 law enforcement, security and staff personnel. The Airport Police is a division of Los Angeles Department of Airports,...
at the Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
. Pacific Division was formerly known as "Venice Division."
West Los Angeles Division
The West Los Angeles Area (#8) community police station serves the northern portion of the West Side
West Los Angeles (region)
The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has no official definition, but, according to the Los Angeles Times, it comprises , encompassing 18 districts in the city of Los Angeles and two unincorporated neighborhoods, plus the cities of...
. Communities within its service area include Pacific Palisades
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...
, Century City, Brentwood
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
, Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
, West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
West Los Angeles is a district in Los Angeles, California, within a larger region known as the "Westside."-Geography and transportation:...
and Cheviot Hills
Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles, California
Cheviot Hills is a small residential district on the West Side of Los Angeles, California. It served as the location for the Three's Company spin-off The Ropers.-Geography:...
. UCLA and Twentieth Century Fox are both located here.
Olympic Division
Mid-City, Los Angeles, California
Mid-City is a district in Los Angeles, California. It is 2.5 miles south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Lafayette Square, Victoria Park, Wellington Square, and Vineyard neighborhoods are part of the district.-Geography and history:Mid-City's boundaries are roughly...
region, including Koreatown
Koreatown, Los Angeles, California
Koreatown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California known for its concentration of Korean American people and institutions...
and a section of the Miracle Mile
Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California
The Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, California, is an area in the Mid-Wilshire region consisting of an almost two-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Western Avenues...
, with a population of 200,000. The 54000 square feet (5,016.8 m²) station is located at the southeast corner of Vermont Avenue and Eleventh Street and houses 293 officers. The construction cost was $34 million.
Office of Special Operations
The Office of Special Operations is a new office that was created in 2010. Headed by an Assistant Chief and the Assistant to the Director, which is a Commander, the office comprises the Property Division, Jail Division, the Detective Bureau, and the Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau.Detective Bureau
The Detective Bureau, which reports to the Director of the Office of Special Operations, consists of several divisions and sections responsible for investigating a variety of crimes.- Investigative Analysis Section
- Scientific Investigation Division
- Robbery-Homicide Division
- Commercial Crimes Division
- Detective Support and Vice Division
- Mental Evaluation Unit
- Threat Management Unit
- Juvenile Division
- Gang and Narcotics Division
Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau
The Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau provides the Los Angeles Police Department specialized tactical resources in support of operations during daily field activities, unusual occurrences and, especially, during serious disturbances and elevated terrorism threat conditions.Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau was created from the merger of the Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau with the Special Operations Bureau in 2010.
Structure of the Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau
- Major Crimes Division
- Emergency Services Division
- Air Support DivisionLAPD Air Support DivisionThe Los Angeles Police Department Air Support Division is the airborne law enforcement program of the LAPD. It is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement organization in the United States and operates from the LAPD Hooper Heliport....
- Emergency Operations Division
- Metropolitan DivisionLAPD Metropolitan DivisionThe Metropolitan Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is an elite division within the department that is most notable as the unit that operates LAPD's SWAT teams. Captain John N...
- A Platoon - Administrative and Operations Planning
- B and C Platoons - Crime Suppression
- D Platoon - Special Weapons and Tactics (SWATSWATA SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
) - E Platoon - Mounted Unit
- K-9 Platoon - Canine Unit
Office of Administrative Services
The Office of Administrative Services is a new office that was created in 2010. Headed by an Assistant Chief and the Assistant to the Director, which is a Commander, the office is divided into the Behavioral Science Services, Use of Force Review Division, Information Technology Bureau, Administrative Services Bureau, and the Personnel and Training Bureau.Rank structure and insignia
| Senior ranks | Insignia | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chief of Police |  |
Appointment made by the Mayor of Los Angeles. Must have a college degree and 12 years in law enforcement. |
| Assistant Chief of Police (Deputy Chief II) |
 |
Appointed to Deputy Chief I after at least one years service as a Commander. |
| Deputy Chief I |  |
|
| Commander |  |
Eligibility for rank promotion achieved after completion of required probationary periods. |
| Captain III Captain II Captain I |
 |
|
| Lieutenant II Lieutenant I |
 |
|
| Insignia are worn as metal pins on the collars of a shirt and as shoulder marks on a jacket. | ||
| Police officers | Insignia | Detectives | Insignia | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant II |  |
Detective III |  |
At least two years service as Sergeant II or Detective III before eligibility for promotion to Lieutenant I. | |
| Sergeant I |  |
Detective II |  |
 |
At least one year's service as Police Officer III before becoming eligible for promotion to Sergeant I or Detective I (after an additional examination and interview). |
| Police Officer II | No insignia | At least three years service as a Police Officer II before eligibility for promotion to Police Officer III | |||
| Police Officer I | Automatic promotion to Police Officer II upon satisfactory completion of an 18-month probationary assignment (6 months at the academy + 12-month field assessments). | ||||
| Insignia are worn as embroidered chevrons on the upper sleeves of a shirt or jacket. | |||||
| ‡ |  |
Senior Lead Officers (SLOs), who are denoted by a Police Officer III insignia and star, are appointed to supervise geographical areas, in cooperation with Community-Police Advisory Boards (C-PAB) and residents, to deter local crime and support community policing, public safety, and other quality of life issues. | |||
- Departmental insignia are worn at the top of the sleeve beneath the shoulder for officers assigned to Traffic Division, Air Support DivisionLAPD Air Support DivisionThe Los Angeles Police Department Air Support Division is the airborne law enforcement program of the LAPD. It is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement organization in the United States and operates from the LAPD Hooper Heliport....
and Metropolitan DivisionLAPD Metropolitan DivisionThe Metropolitan Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is an elite division within the department that is most notable as the unit that operates LAPD's SWAT teams. Captain John N...
which includes SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) unitsSWATA SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
. Officers assigned to Patrol Division have historically not worn any departmental shoulder patch. - Service stripes are worn above the left cuff on a long-sleeved shirt. Each silver stripe represents five years of service in the LAPD.
Chiefs of Police
Since 1876, there have been 56 appointed chiefs of the Los Angeles Police Department. William H. Parker was the longest serving police chief in Los Angeles Police Department history, serving for 16 years as chief.Limitations
The Los Angeles Police Department has suffered from chronic underfunding and under-staffing recently. Compared to most other large cities in the United States, Los Angeles has historically had one of the lowest ratios of police personnel to population served. Former police chief William J. BrattonWilliam J. Bratton
William Joseph "Bill" Bratton CBE is an American law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department , New York City Police Commissioner, and Boston Police Commissioner....
made enlarging the force one of his top priorities (Bratton has been quoted as saying, "You give me 4,000 more officers and I'll give you the safest city in the world").
The Los Angeles Police Department protects its city with only one officer for every 426 residents. As a point of comparison, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
boasts one NYPD officer for every 228 residents. For Los Angeles to have the same ratio of officers as New York City, the LAPD would need to add nearly 17,000 officers. Further points of comparison include Chicago, which has a ratio of one officer per 216 citizens and Philadelphia, whose officer per citizen ratio is 1 to 219.
In recent years, the department had been conducting a massive recruiting effort, with a goal of hiring an additional 1,500 police officers. One problem with such a drive is the lack of qualified candidates. The city has four specialized agencies, not directly affiliated with the LAPD, which serve the Port
Los Angeles Port Police
The Los Angeles Port Police is a specialized law enforcement agency at the Port of Los Angeles, under the control of the Los Angeles Harbor Department .-See also:* List of law enforcement agencies in California-External links:* *...
, the Airport
Los Angeles Airport Police
The Los Angeles Airport Police is the largest airport police agency in the United States and the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County, with more than 1,100 law enforcement, security and staff personnel. The Airport Police is a division of Los Angeles Department of Airports,...
, the City Hall, Library, and Zoo
Los Angeles General Services Police
The Los Angeles General Services Police is a law enforcement agency providing security police and security guard services to the Los Angeles City Hall, the Los Angeles Central Library, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the city's parks, having similar duties of the late Los Angeles County Office of Public...
, and the Unified School District
Los Angeles School Police Department
The Los Angeles School Police Department is a law enforcement agency in Los Angeles, California, whose duties are to provide police services to the Los Angeles Unified School District and to enforce state and city laws...
.
Racial and gender composition
For most of the Department's history up until the Gates administration, the LAPD was overwhelmingly white (80% in 1980), and many officers resided outside of the city. Simi ValleySimi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
, the Ventura County
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
suburb that later became infamous as the site of the state trial that immediately preceded the 1992 Los Angeles riots
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
, has long been home to a particularly large concentration of LAPD officers, almost all of them white. A 1994 ACLU
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
study of officers' home zip codes, concluded that over 80% of police officers lived outside city boundaries.
Hiring quotas began to change this during the 1980s, but it was not until the Christopher Commission
Christopher Commission
The Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, informally known as the Christopher Commission, was formed in July 1991, in the wake of the Rodney King beating, by then-mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley. It was chaired by attorney Warren Christopher...
reforms that substantial numbers of black, Hispanic, and Asian officers began to join the force. Minority officers can be found in both rank-and-file and leadership positions in virtually all divisions, and the LAPD is starting to reflect the general population.
The LAPD hired the first female police officer in the United States in 1910, Ms Alice Stebbins Wells
Alice Stebbins Wells
Alice Stebbins Wells was the first American-born female police officer in the United States, hired in 1910 in Los Angeles...
. Since then, women have been a small, but growing part of the force. Through the early 1970s, women were classified as "policewomen" on the LAPD. Through the 1950s, their duties generally consisted as working as matrons in the jail system, or dealing with troubled youths working in detective assignments. Rarely did they work any type of field assignment and they were not allowed to promote above the rank of sergeant. However, a lawsuit by a policewoman, Fanchon Blake, from the 1980s instituted court ordered mandates that the department begin actively hiring and promoting women police officers in its ranks. The department eliminated the rank of "Policeman" from new hires at that time along with the rank of "Policewoman." Anyone already in those positions was grandfathered in, but new hires were classified instead as "Police Officers," which continues to this day.
In 2002, women made up 18.9% of the force. Women have made significant strides within the ranks of the department since the days of the Fanchon Blake lawsuit. The highest rank achieved by a woman in the department is Assistant Chief, to which Sharon Papa promoted in 2003. Following a reorganization of command staff by Chief Beck in 2009 Papa is serving at the rank of Commander. Papa came to the LAPD as a Commander from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Transit Police Department in 1997. Chief Papa was the last Chief of Police from the MTA and is in command of the Valley Bureau.
The LAPD was the first police department in the United States to hire black officers. In 1886, the department hired its first two black officers, Robert William Stewart and Roy Green. Despite being the first police department to hire blacks, the LAPD had been slow at successfully integrating the department. During the 1965 Watts Riot, only 5 of the 205 police assigned to South Central Los Angeles were black, despite the fact that it was the largest black community in Los Angeles. Los Angeles' first black mayor Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley (politician)
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
was an ex-police officer and quit the department after being unable to advance past the rank of Lieutenant like other black police in the department. When Bradley was elected mayor in 1972, only 5% of the LAPD was black and there was only one Black Captain in the department, Homer Broome. Broome would break down racial barriers on the force going on to become first Black officer to obtain the rank of Commander and the first Black to command a police station, the Southwest Division which included historically black neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles in 1975.
According to the US Department of Justice, the LAPD was 82% male in 2000. 46% of the department was white
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, 33% of the department was Hispanic/Latino
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
, 14% was African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, and 7% was Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
.
Work environment
The department's training division has three facilities throughout the city, including Elysian Park, Ahmanson Recruit Training Center (Westchester), and the Edward Davis Training Center (Granada Hills).
From spring 2007 through the spring of 2009, new recruits could earn money through sign on bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. Those bonuses ended in 2009. Sign on bonuses were paid 1/2 after graduation from the academy, and 1/2 after completion of probation. Also, $2,000 could be added for out of town sign ons for housing arrangements. As of July 2009, new recruits earned starting salaries of $56,522–$61,095 depending on education level, and began earning their full salary on their first day of academy training.
As of January 2010, the starting base salary for high school graduates was lowered to $45,226. If the applicant has at least 60 college units, with an overall GPA of 2.0 or better, the applicant will start at $47,043. If the applicant has a BA or BSc (four year) degree, the applicant will start at $48,880.
Aviation
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...
Jet Rangers to 12 Eurocopter AS350-B2 AStars. The LAPD also has 1 Beechcraft Kingair A200 and 1 unspecified and undenied drone.
Main Airship missions are flown out of downtown's Piper Tech center at the Hooper Heliport, located outside of Union Station
Union Station (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California. The station has rail services by Amtrak and Amtrak California and Metrolink; light rail/subways are the Metro Rail Red Line, Purple Line, Gold Line. Bus rapid transport runs on the Silver Line...
. The LAPD also houses air units at Van Nuys airport.
Ground
Three vehicles are approved for use within the Los Angeles Police Department; they are the Ford Crown Victoria Police InterceptorFord Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
Though the name has been officially in use since 1992, the 1978–1991 full-size LTDs and LTD Crown Victorias and 1992 updated body style used the "P72" production code designation for both fleet/taxi and police models, with the model itself being internally classified as S...
, the Dodge Charger, and the Chevrolet Tahoe
Chevrolet Tahoe
The Chevrolet Tahoe are full-size SUVs from General Motors. Chevrolet and GMC sold two different-sized SUVs under their Blazer/Jimmy model names through the early 1990s. This situation changed when GMC rebadged the full-size Jimmy as the Yukon in 1992...
. The department is also testing the Chevrolet Impala and the 2011 Chevrolet Caprice PPV in their fleet.
Service weapons
Before 1988, LAPD officers were armed with the six-shot, double action/single action Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolver, also known as the .38 "Combat Masterpiece". This was specifically designed at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was a Smith and Wesson Military and Police .38 Caliber revolver with non-snag, high profile adjustable sights. Some officers also carried the Model 36Smith & Wesson Model 36
The Smith & Wesson Model 36 is a revolver chambered for .38 Special. Like nearly all other "J-frame" Smith & Wesson revolvers, it has a 5-round capacity in a swing-out cylinder, and features an exposed hammer. It features a nickel-plated or blued finish and either wood or rubber grips...
"Chief's Special" as a backup revolver. In the cars, locked to a steel bar, was an Ithaca Model 37, 12-gauge shotgun, loaded with "00" (double-aught) buckshot, nine pellets to the cartridge with 1 round in the chamber and 4 in the magazine tube. The shotgun was made specifically for the Los Angeles Police Department, and was called the "L.A.P.D. Special". The shotgun was based on the Ithaca Model 37 "Deerslayer", which was a weapon designed to hunt large game with rifled slugs. As a consequence of being designed for use with slugs, it had rifle sights, unlike most shotguns. The "L.A.P.D. Special" had a dull parkerized military finish instead of the more usual high gloss blue finish. The barrel was 18 and a half inches long, as opposed to the twenty inches of the civilian version. The advantages of the Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun over the Winchester, Mossberg and Remington models were that the Ithaca weighed a pound less, and could be used with equal ease by right or left-handed shooters due to the unique bottom ejection port and loading chamber it used. In response to increasing firepower carried by criminals, including fully automatic weapons and assault rifles, LAPD patrol officers were issued Beretta 92F
Beretta 92
The Beretta 92 is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. The model 92 was designed in 1972 and production of many variants in different calibers continues today...
. Later, officers were able to carry the Smith & Wesson Model 5906, a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, in addition to a few other approved weapons. In response to the North Hollywood shootout
North Hollywood shootout
The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997...
of 1997, LAPD officers had the option of carrying the Smith & Wesson Model 4506 and 4566 service pistols in .45 ACP
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
caliber. Also due to the North Hollywood incident, qualified officers were issued patrol rifles called UPR (Urban Police Rifle) consisting mainly of AR-15
AR-15
The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials....
variants chambered in .223 after being certified from LAPD Urban Police Rifle School. Until 2002, LAPD officers standard issue pistol was the Beretta 92F/92FS. However, when William Bratton was appointed Chief of the LAPD, he allowed his officers to carry the Glock pistol
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
, a weapon which the two previous departments he was chief at (the New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
and the Boston Police Department
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
) carried. New officers graduating from the LAPD academy are now issued the Glock 22 or Glock 17 but can qualify in a variety of firearms.
Officers now have the choice of carrying
Beretta
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
:
- 92F, 92FS, 92FS-Stainless Steel, 8045Beretta 8000The Beretta 8000 series pistols are manufactured by Beretta of Italy.They first appeared on the market in 1994 as a more compact alternative to the full-sized Beretta 92 service pistol in order to offer a compromise between concealability, ease of carry, accuracy and firepower.It was originally...
(4” barrel)
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
:
- 459, 5904, 5903, 659, 5906, 645, 4506, 4566, 4567, 5903 TSW, 5906 TSW, 4569 TSW, and 4566 TSW.
Glock
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
:
- 9mm: Model 34, Model 17, Model 19
- .40 caliber.40 S&WThe .40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Winchester and Smith & Wesson. The .40 S&W was developed from the ground up as a law enforcement cartridge designed to duplicate performance of the FBI's reduced velocity 10mm cartridge which could...
: Model 35, Model 22, Model 23
- .45 ACP.45 ACPThe .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
: Model 21, 21SF
The LAPD SWAT team decided to go with the Kimber Custom TLE II
Kimber Custom
The Kimber Custom is a model 1911 semi-automatic pistol. It is designed, manufactured, and distributed by Kimber Manufacturing, Inc. in Yonkers, New York.- Overview :...
in 2002, renaming it the Kimber LAPD SWAT Custom II. Before that, LAPD SWAT carried modified Springfield or Colt M1911 pistols. SWAT's primary weapons are the Heckler & Koch MP5
Heckler & Koch MP5
The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
series submachine guns and most officers choose the fixed stock A2 model. For assistant weapons, officers carry AR-15s and CAR-15
CAR-15
The Colt Automatic Rifle-15 Military Weapons System or CAR-15 was a family of AR-15 and M16 rifle–based firearms marketed by Colt in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Due to their compact size, the short-barreled Colt Commando and XM177 versions of this family continued to be issued to the U.S...
s. In the '80s and early '90s they carried Colt RO727s and RO733s. In 2000 they imported the M4A1s. The LAPD recently announced that they will be incorporating a new shotgun, the Benelli M4 Super 90
Benelli M4 Super 90
The Benelli M4 Super 90 is an Italian semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Benelli Armi S.P.A.-History:On May 4, 1998, the U.S. Army Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ issued Solicitation #DAAE30-98-R-0401, requesting submissions for a new 12 gauge,...
and officers will go through additional training for the use of the semi-automatic shotgun
Semi-automatic shotgun
A semi-automatic shotgun is a form of shotgun that is able to fire a cartridge after every trigger squeeze, without any manual chambering of another round being required...
and will have to privately purchase the gun if they elect to switch from the standard pump-action
Pump-action
A pump-action rifle or shotgun is one in which the handgrip can be pumped back and forth in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a fresh one. It is much faster than a bolt-action and somewhat faster than a lever-action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from...
Remington 870
Remington 870
The Remington Model 870 is a U.S.-made pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, Inc. It is widely used by the public for sport shooting, hunting, and self-defense. It is also commonly used by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.-Development:The Remington 870 was...
. The LAPD also has 37mm launchers and modified "beanbag" firing Remington 870s for crowd control when less than lethal force is needed.
LAPD awards, commendations, citations and medals
The department presents a number of medals to its members for meritorious service. The medals that the LAPD awards to its officers are as follows:Bravery
- Medal of ValorLos Angeles Police Medal of ValorThe Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor is the highest law enforcement medal given by the Los Angeles Police Department.The Medal of Valor is an award for bravery, usually given for individual acts of extraordinary bravery or heroism performed in the line of duty at extreme,...
(Solid blue and white ribbon):
The Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor is the highest law enforcement medal awarded to officers by the Los Angeles Police Department. The Medal of Valor is an award for bravery, usually awarded to officers for individual acts of extraordinary bravery or heroism performed in the line of duty at extreme and life-threatening personal risk.
- Liberty Award:
LAPD Metropolitan Division
The Metropolitan Division of the Los Angeles Police Department is an elite division within the department that is most notable as the unit that operates LAPD's SWAT teams. Captain John N...
shot and killed in the line of duty. Liberty's handler received the Medal of Valor for the same incident. So far it has only been awarded once in the LAPD's history.
- Police Medal for Heroism:
- Police Star:
- Police Life-Saving Medal:
Service
- Police Distinguished Service Medal
- Police Meritorious Service Medal
- Police Meritorious Achievement Medal
- Police Commission Distinguished Service Medal
- Community Policing Medal
- Human Relations Medal
Unit Citations
- Police Commission Unit Citation
- Police Meritorious Unit Citation
Ribbons
- 1984 Summer Olympics Ribbon:
Given to any LAPD officer who saw service during the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
from July 28 to August 12, 1984.
- 1987 Papal Visit Ribbon:
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
.
- 1992 Civil Disturbance Ribbon:
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
from April 29 to May 4, 1992.
- 1994 Earthquake Ribbon:
- Reserve Service Ribbon:
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Los Angeles Police Department, 200 officers have died in the line of duty. In its long history, the first SWAT officer killed in the line of duty was Randy Simmons in 2008. The Los Angeles Police Memorial is a monument outside Parker CenterParker Center
Parker Center was the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1954 until October 2009, and is located in Downtown LA. It is named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally with the prosaic name, the Police Administration Building, ground for the center was broken on...
, the LAPD's old headquarters, and was unveiled on October 1, 1971. The monument is a fountain made from black granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, the base of which is inscribed with the names of the LAPD officers who have died while serving the City of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
The cause of deaths are as follows:
| Cause of deaths | Number of deaths |
|---|---|
| Aircraft accident | |
| Automobile accident | |
| Bicycle accident | |
| Bomb | |
| Electrocuted | |
| Fall | |
| Fire | |
| Gunfire | |
| Gunfire (accidental) | |
| Heart attack | |
| Motorcycle accident | |
| Struck by streetcar | |
| Struck by train | |
| Struck by vehicle | |
| Train accident | |
| Training accident | |
| Vehicle pursuit | |
| Vehicular assault | |
Riots of 1992
The Los Angeles riots of 1992, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, began on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four LAPD police officers accused in the videotaped beating of an African American Rodney KingRodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
following a high-speed car pursuit on March 3, 1991. Immediately following the King incident, the Christopher Commission
Christopher Commission
The Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, informally known as the Christopher Commission, was formed in July 1991, in the wake of the Rodney King beating, by then-mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley. It was chaired by attorney Warren Christopher...
was formed in July 1991. The commission, chaired by attorney Warren Christopher
Warren Christopher
Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy...
(who later became U.S. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
), investigated the LAPD's hiring practices, as well as their handling of excessive force complaints. However, with the election of Richard Riordan
Richard Riordan
Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...
in 1992 before the verdict, the reforms recommended by Christopher were put on hold.
After seven days of jury deliberations
Deliberation
Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. In legal settings a jury famously uses deliberation because it is given specific options, like guilty or not guilty, along with information and arguments to evaluate. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and...
, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The evening after the verdict, thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict. Widespread looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
, assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
occurred, and property damages totaled one billion dollars. In all, 53 people died during the riots.
Rampart scandal and consent decree
Following the Rampart Division C.R.A.S.H.Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, usually known by the acronym C.R.A.S.H., was an elite, but controversial special operations unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was established by then-chief Daryl Gates to combat the rising problem of gangs in Los Angeles, California...
scandal
Rampart Scandal
The Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
of the late 1990s - early 2000s, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
entered into a consent decree with the LAPD regarding numerous civil rights violations. Mayor Richard J. Riordan and the Los Angeles city council agreed to the terms of the decree on November 2, 2000. The federal judge formally entered the decree into law on June 15, 2001. The consent decree is legally binding, and lasted until July 17, 2009, when U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess terminated it. Under the terms of a transitional agreement approved by Feess, the Board of Police Commissioners and the Office of Inspector General, which monitors the Department on behalf of the Board of Police Commissioners, will assume responsibility for keeping tabs on the department's efforts to fully implement a few still-incomplete or recently finished reforms. If lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice are not satisfied with the oversight by the LAPD's Inspector General, the agreement allows them to object and bring the department back before Feess.
The Rampart scandal mainly surrounded the unethical and illegal actions of members of the LAPD's anti-gang unit, Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums
Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, usually known by the acronym C.R.A.S.H., was an elite, but controversial special operations unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was established by then-chief Daryl Gates to combat the rising problem of gangs in Los Angeles, California...
(CRASH). In particular, Javier Ovando
Javier Ovando
Javier Francisco Ovando , is a Honduran man who became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando is an immigrant and a former member of the powerful 18th Street Gang...
, an unarmed teenager, had been shot and paralyzed by then-officer Rafael Pérez
Rafael Pérez (police officer)
Rafael Antonio "Ray" Pérez , is a former Los Angeles Police Department C.R.A.S.H officer and the central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal. He was involved in the coverup of a $722,000 bank robbery, shot and framed Javier Ovando, and stole and resold at least $800,000 of cocaine from LAPD...
. After the shooting, Pérez planted a gun on Ovando and claimed self-defense. Ovando was sent to prison, although later he was exonerated and released. By 2001, the resulting investigations would lead to more than 75 officers being investigated or charged and over 100 criminal cases being overturned due to perjury or other forms of misconduct
The DOJ-LAPD Consent Decree places emphasis on the following nine major areas:
- Management and supervisory measures to promote Civil Rights Integrity
- Critical incident procedures, documentation, investigation and review
- Management of Gang Units
- Management of Confidential Informants
- Program development for response to persons with mental illness
- Training
- Integrity Audits
- Operations of the Police Commission and Inspector General
- Community outreach and public information
The Consent Decree includes several recommendations from the Rampart Board of Inquiry, and several Consent Decree provisions mandate the Department to continue existing policies. Some of the more complex or major provisions in the Decree call for the following:
- Development of a Risk Management System
- Creation of a new division to investigate all Uses of Force formerly investigated by Robbery Homicide Division and Detective Headquarters Division
- Creation of a new division to conduct audits Department-wide
- Creation of a Field Data Capture System to track the race, ethnicity or national origin of the motorists and pedestrians stopped by the Department
- Creation of an Ethics Enforcement Section within the Internal Affairs Group
- Transfer of investigative authority to IAG of all serious personnel complaint investigations
- A nationwide study by an independent consultant of law enforcement agencies’ protocols for dealing with the mentally ill. The study will serve as the Department’s foundation for refining its own system.
- A study by an independent consultant of the Department’s training programs
- Creation of an informant manual and database
There are several stakeholders in the LAPD Consent Decree compliance process. At the federal level, stakeholders include:
- The United States Attorney GeneralUnited States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
- the DOJ Civil Rights Division
- the United States District Court of Jurisdiction
- the Independent Monitor
As the Consent Decree is a binding agreement between the City and the DOJ, the following City entities are key stakeholders:
- Office of the Mayor
- City CouncilLos Angeles City CouncilThe Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
- Office of the City Attorney
- Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst
- Office of Administrative and Research Services
- The Los Angeles Police Department, including the Board of Police Commissioners and the Inspector General
The Consent Decree Bureau was the LAPD bureau charged with overseeing this process. Until 2009, the Commanding Officer of the Consent Decree Bureau, a civilian appointed by the Chief of Police, was Police Administrator Gerald L. Chaleff.
Other controversies
Other controversies include former detective Mark FuhrmanMark Fuhrman
Mark Fuhrman is a former detective of the Los Angeles Police Department , known for his part in the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and his subsequent felony conviction for perjury...
's role in the Nicole Simpson/Ron Goldman
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
murder investigation (1994), as well as the Rampart scandal
Rampart Scandal
The Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
-related Javier Ovando
Javier Ovando
Javier Francisco Ovando , is a Honduran man who became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando is an immigrant and a former member of the powerful 18th Street Gang...
incident (In which Ovando, an unarmed teenage gang member, was shot, paralyzed, and framed by officers Rafael Perez
Rafael Pérez (police officer)
Rafael Antonio "Ray" Pérez , is a former Los Angeles Police Department C.R.A.S.H officer and the central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal. He was involved in the coverup of a $722,000 bank robbery, shot and framed Javier Ovando, and stole and resold at least $800,000 of cocaine from LAPD...
and Nino Durden
Nino Durden
Gino Floyd "Nino" Durden , was a police officer in the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the LAPD Rampart scandal. Durden, along with Officer Rafael Pérez, was involved in the shooting and framing of gang member Javier Ovando...
(1996) and served 2½ years of a 23 year sentence before being exonerated), the controversy surrounding the arrest of Stanley Miller
Stanley Miller
Stanley Lloyd Miller was an American chemist and biologist who is known for his studies into the origin of life, particularly the Miller–Urey experiment which demonstrated that organic compounds can be created by fairly simple physical processes from inorganic substances...
(2004), the shooting death of 19-month-old Suzie Pena, who was shot in the head by police while being used as a human shield by her father (2005), and the LAPD's reaction to illegal immigrant rallies (2007).
In 1962, the controversial LAPD shooting of 7 unarmed members of the Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
resulted in the death of Ronald Stokes, and led to protests of the LAPD led by Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
and the Nation of Islam. In 1972, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt
Geronimo Pratt
Geronimo Ji Jaga , also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga Pratt born: Elmer Pratt, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party...
was framed by members of both the LAPD and FBI, and his conviction was overturned on appeal on February 18, 1999. In 1988, African-American baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
sportscaster and retired Baseball Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
was detained at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
by LAPD and L.A. Airport Police officers after falsely being identified as a drug dealer. He was released when the LAPD realized their mistake in identity. Morgan subsequently filed a civil suit against both the LAPD and the city after he was denied the opportunity to file a formal complaint against the LAPD. The lawsuit would eventually be settled in 1993, and Morgan was awarded $800,000 by the Los Angeles City Council.
In 1986, the Department purchased a 14-ton armored breaching vehicle, used to smash quickly through the walls of houses of suspects. The ACLU questioned the Constitutionality of the vehicle. Ultimately, the California Appellate Court ruled that the vehicle was unconstitutional, violating lawful search and seizure.
Early in his tenure as Chief of Police, Daryl Gates re-instituted the use of the choke hold (placing an arm or flashlight over someone's throat) to subdue suspects. In 1982, however, this technique left one suspect, James Mincey, Jr. in a coma for two weeks prior to his eventual death. An investigation into the use of the choke hold found that sixteen people had died soon after being restrained by police choke holds. After the NAACP and ACLU brought this to the attention to the public, the Department discontinued the use of the choke hold.
In 1991, just prior to the highly public Rodney King beating, the department came under fire for brutality. One suspect, Michael Allen, was forced to lie on the ground. After verbally assaulting officers, Allen was struck, while in handcuffs, on the back of the head with a flashlight, causing Allen to go blind in one eye. After Allen had been completely subdued, offices shocked Allen with a stun gun.
The widely-publicized case of Christine and Walter Collins was depicted in the 2008 film Changeling. In March 1928, Christine Collins reported her nine-year-old son, Walter, missing. Five months later a boy named Arthur Hutchins came forth claiming to be Walter. When Mrs. Collins tried to tell the police that the boy was not her son, she was committed to a mental institution under a Section 12 internment. It was later determined that Walter had actually fallen victim to a child rapist/murderer in the infamous Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Arthur Hutchins eventually admitted that he had lied about his identity in order to get to Hollywood and meet his favorite actor, Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
.
In 2008, officer Russell Mecano offered to not arrest a woman in exchange for sex, and offered cash to another woman in exchange for sex. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 8 years.
In popular culture
The iconic television series Dragnet, with LAPD Detective Joe FridayJoe Friday
Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is a fictional detective of the LAPD.-Original Series:The Joe Friday character was created and played by American actor, television producer, and writer Jack Webb on Dragnet...
as the primary character, was the first major media representation of the department. Real LAPD operations inspired Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
to create the series and close cooperation with department officers let him make it as realistic as possible, including authentic police equipment and sound recording on-site at the police station.
Due to Dragnets popularity, LAPD Chief Parker "became, after J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, the most well known and respected law enforcement official in the nation." In the 1960s, when the LAPD under Chief Thomas Reddin
Thomas Reddin
Thomas Reddin was a Los Angeles Police Department chief from 1967 to 1969. He left May 6, 1969, to become a news commentator...
expanded its community relations division and began efforts to reach out to the African-American community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay.
Several prominent representations of the LAPD and its officers in television and film include Adam-12
Adam-12
Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
, Blue Streak
Blue Streak (film)
Blue Streak is a 1999 American action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Martin Lawrence. The film is a remake of the 1965 British film The Big Job, although the original film is uncredited...
, Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder is a 1983 feature film that features a high-tech helicopter of the same name. The movie was directed by John Badham and stars Roy Scheider...
, Boomtown, The Closer
The Closer
The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods...
, Colors
Colors (film)
Colors is a 1988 police procedural crime film starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall and directed by Dennis Hopper. The story takes place in South Central Los Angeles, and is about Bob Hodges , an experienced LAPD Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums Police Officer III, and his rookie partner,...
, Crash
Crash (2004 film)
Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
, Columbo, Dark Blue, Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
, Heat, Hunter, Internal Affairs
Internal Affairs (film)
Internal Affairs is a 1990 American crime-thriller film set in Los Angeles about the police department's Internal Affairs Division.Directed by Mike Figgis, the film stars Richard Gere as Dennis Peck, a suave womanizer, clever manipulator, and crooked cop who uses his fellow officers as pawns for...
, Lakeview Terrace
Lakeview Terrace
Lakeview Terrace is a 2008 American thriller film directed by Neil LaBute, co-produced by Will Smith, written by David Loughery and Howard Korder, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington. Jackson plays a racist LAPD sergeant who terrorizes his new next-door neighbors...
, Law & Order: Los Angeles
Law & Order: Los Angeles
Law & Order: LA, originally titled Law & Order: Los Angeles, is an American police procedural and legal drama television series set in Los Angeles, where it was produced...
, The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, Southland
Southland (TV series)
Southland is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. It premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009...
, Speed, Street Kings, SWAT, Training Day
Training Day
Training Day is a 2001 crime drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by David Ayer, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. The film follows two LAPD narcotics detectives over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of South and East Los Angeles.The film was a box office success and...
and the Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action film and the first in a series of films, all directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of LAPD detectives, and Gary Busey as their primary adversary...
, Rush Hour
Rush Hour (film series)
The Rush Hour film series is a series of martial arts/action-comedy films starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, directed by Brett Ratner, and distributed by New Line Cinema...
and Terminator
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
film series. The LAPD is also featured in the video games Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is the fourth video game in the Midnight Club series of racing video games, not including Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. It was officially announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 11, 2008 by Rockstar Games. The game was developed by Rockstar San Diego...
, L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire is a 2011 crime video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows. It was released as a 3-disc game for the Xbox 360 console, which prompts the player to switch to another disc at certain points in the...
and Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is a first-person shooter video game developed by Techland. The game is part of the Call of Juarez western-themed video games, but is set in modern-day Los Angeles and Mexico as up to three players take the role of law enforcement agents...
.
The LAPD has also been the subject of numerous novels. Elizabeth Linington
Elizabeth Linington
Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington was a prolific American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best first mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1960 novel, Case Pending, which introduced her most popular series character, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza...
used the department as her backdrop in three different series written under three different names, perhaps the most popular being those novel featuring Det. Lt. Luis Mendoza, who was introduced in the Edgar-nominated
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
Case Pending. Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Wambaugh
Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. is a bestselling American writer known for his fictional and non-fictional accounts of police work in the United States...
, the son of a Pittsburgh policeman, spent fourteen years in the department, using his background to write novels with authentic fictional depictions of life in the LAPD. Wambaugh also created the Emmy-winning
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
TV anthology series Police Story. Wambaugh was also a major influence on James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
, who wrote several novels about the Department set during the 1940s and 1950s, the most famous of which are probably The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia (novel)
The Black Dahlia is a neo-noir crime novel by American author James Ellroy, taking inspiration from the true story of the murder of Elizabeth Short. It is widely considered to be the book that elevated Ellroy out of typical genre fiction status, and with which he started to garner critical...
, fictionalizing the LAPD's most famous "cold case", and L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
, which was made into a film of the same name
L.A. Confidential (film)
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...
. Both the novel and the film chronicled mass-murder and corruption inside and outside the force during the Parker era. Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
indicates that the film's characters (from the 1950s) "represent the choices ahead for the LAPD": assisting Hollywood limelight, aggressive policing with relaxed ethics, and a "straight arrow" approach.
See also
- List of law enforcement agencies in California
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentLos Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentThe Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
- Los Angeles General Services PoliceLos Angeles General Services PoliceThe Los Angeles General Services Police is a law enforcement agency providing security police and security guard services to the Los Angeles City Hall, the Los Angeles Central Library, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the city's parks, having similar duties of the late Los Angeles County Office of Public...