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| Los Angeles Police Department |
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| "To protect and to serve" | |
| Established | 1869 |
| Jurisdiction | Municipal |
| Sworn | 9,600 |
| Non-sworn | 3,000 |
| Stations | 21 |
| Helicopters | 26 |
| Chief of Police | William J. Bratton |
| Commissioner | John Mack Alan J. Skobin Shelley Freeman Andrea Ordin Anthony Pacheco |
| Website | www.lapdonline.org |
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the police department of the City of Los Angeles, California. With over 9,500 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of 473 square miles with a population of more than 3.5 million people, it is the fifth largest law enforcement agency in the United States (trailing behind the NYPD, Chicago Police Department, California Department of Corrections, and FBI). The department has been heavily fictionalized in numerous movies and television shows. It has also been involved in a number of controversies, perhaps most notably the infamous Rodney King incident and the subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots. The LAPD should not be confused with the Los Angeles General Services Police.
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Organization
Resources, mobility and technology
The LAPD has vast resources, including the second largest civilian air force in the world. Only the Office of CBP Air & Marine, commands a larger force of 250 aircraft. Air Support Division resources include 21 helicopters ranging from 4 Bell 206 Jet Rangers to 16 Eurocopter AS350-B2 Écureuils, and 1 Bell UH-1 Huey (Although grounded due to maintenance issues). 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. LAPD also houses air units at Van Nuys airport. At one time the LAPD also had a military submarine.(According to the LA Police Historical Society)
Work Environment
The LAPD has a 3 day-12 hour and 4 day-10 hour work week schedule. They have over 250 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 suburban departments surrounding Los Angeles, in which many departments deploy officers in one-officer units. Other departments use single officer patrol cars to maximize police presence, allowing a smaller amount of officers to patrol a larger area, while LAPD prefers to err on the side of caution. 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). Pay and benefits however are a plus to new Los Angeles Police officers. As of Spring 2007 new recruits could earn money before even attending the academy with sign on bonuses ranging from $5-10,000. Also $2,000 could be added for out of town sign on's for housing arrangements. With over 250 career choices LAPD is a great department to work for. Because of the diversity of new recruits depending on academy levels when graduating rookies are now earning a starting slary of $54,000-$74,000. Benefits include medical/dental insurance and that includes domestic partner coverage. 13 paid holidays, 15 days paid vacation, and 12 days sick leave.
Limitations
Throughout its modern history, the department has suffered from chronic underfunding and under-staffing. In comparison to most large cities, the LAPD has historically had one of the lowest ratios of police personnel to population served and thus the current chief, William J. Bratton, has made enlarging the force one of his top priorities (Bratton has been quoted as saying, "You give me 3,999 more officers and I'll give you the safest city in the world."). The LAPD's own web site illustrates the challenges faced by the department [2]. For example, New York City boasts one officer for every 228 residents. Because of this, advancement in NYPD is difficult and pay and benefits are extremely limited. as of Spring of 2007 LAPD was offering as much as 74,000 to new recruits,in NYPD the pay is alot less and usually around the 30-40,000 range. In Chicago, the ratio is one officer per 216 citizens and in Philadelphia there is one officer for every 219 persons. By contrast, the Los Angeles Police Department protects its city with only one officer for every 426 residents. For Los Angeles to have the same ratio of officers as New York City, the LAPD would need nearly 17,000 officers. As of the spring of 2007, the Department is in the middle of a large recruiting drive, looking to hire an additional 1500 officers. They've used a high starting salary ($50,000+) as an incentive. One problem with such a drive is the lack of qualified candidates. Stringent hiring practices instituted by top LAPD brass following several accusations of corrupt police officers has led to fewer than 1 in 10 initial applicants actually being hired. Also, the city has four specialized police agencies which are not affiliated with the LAPD, Port of Los Angeles, or Harbor Dept. Police, Los Angeles World Airports Police, and Dept. of General Services Office of Public Safety Police, which police city owned properties, parks, zoo, libraries, and convention center, and the Los Angeles School Police Department.
Force composition
During the Parker-Davis-Gates period, the LAPD was overwhelmingly white, and much of it lived outside of the city. In 1980, only 20% of the force was minority officers.[3] Simi Valley, 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 officer's home zip codes, concluded that over 80% of police officers lived outside city boundaries.[1] 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 precincts, and the LAPD is starting to reflect the general population. As of 2002, 13.5% of the LAPD is black, 34.2% is Latino, and 6.9% is Asian or Pacific Islander. [2] The LAPD hired the first female police officer in the United States in 1910, Ms Alice Stebbins Wells.[3] Since then, women have been a small, but growing part of the force. Up 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 (Fanchon Blake) by a policewoman from that period 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 were grandfathered in, but any 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 ranking woman on the Department today is Assistant Chief Sharon Papa, who 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 for the MTA. The LAPD also hired the first known black Police Officer in America. LAPD also had the first SWAT team (Special Weapons and Tactics) in America which was instituted in the mid 1960's in an effort to deal with threats from organized factions such as the Black Panther Party and other radical groups operating during that time. LAPD's SWAT team is considered by many in the business to be the premier unit of its kind.
Divisions
The Los Angeles Police Department is comprised of several divisions, located in stations throughout their jurisdiction: The Hollenbeck Division of the Los Angeles Police Department serves the easternmost portions of the city of Los Angeles, including the communities of Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, and El Sereno. Its station house is at 2111 East 1st Street in Boyle Heights. The station will be replaced by a modern police station, compared to the current police station is a 1950s style station, in which during that time police stations were not open to the general public. The Wilshire Division of the Los Angeles Police Department serves the Mid-Wilshire area, covering a wildly diverse range of communities such as Koreatown, Mid-City, Carthay, and the Fairfax District. The station house is at 4861 West Venice Boulevard in Mid-City. The Pacific Division of the Los Angeles Police Department serves the southern portion of the West Side. Communities under its protection include Palms, Mar Vista, Venice, Del Rey, Westchester, and Playa del Rey. The station house is at 12312 Culver Boulevard on the border between Mar Vista and Del Rey. Some LAPD officers from this division are assigned to LAX. The West Los Angeles Division of the Los Angeles Police Department serves the northern portion of the West Side. Communities within its service area include Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Rancho Park, Beverlywood, and Cheviot Hills. The station house is at 1663 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles.
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, gambling and "vice".
Controversies
The LAPD has been involved in a number of public controversies, most notably the infamous Rodney King beating and the subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots. In 2004, pursuit suspect Stanley Miller was forcefully arrested by eight LAPD officers from the Southeast Division when officers saw him fleeing from officers in Compton. Officer John Hatfield was seen kicking and hitting Miller multiple times. Four of the officers faced disciplinary action and Officer Hatfield was fired from the LAPD. Stanley Miller was seen by LAFD EMTs. When asked if he hurt anywhere, Miller replied “No, I’m not hurt, just thirsty. Can I get a drink of water?” LAFD technicians continued to ask Miller if he was hurt to which he responded, “No, nothing hurts.” According to LAFD records, Miller did not have any visible injuries and his vital signs were stable. Miller declined LAFD’s offer to take him to a hospital for further medical treatment. Numerous photographs were taken of Stanley Miller on June 23, 2004, and June 24, 2004, to document any injuries. In the June 23 photographs, there appears to be some redness on Miller’s triceps, upper left back, the bridge of his nose, and around his wrists. There are no visible bumps on Miller’s face or head. The June 24 photographs show that the redness in several areas developed into bruises. The right side of Miller’s right wrist has small, red abrasions where the skin has been broken. There is no bruising or redness on Miller’s face, nor are any bumps visible. Video footage taken by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department at the County Jail shows Miller easily walking to different locations within the jail and doing everyday tasks. Miller had no problem taking off his shirt and appeared to have a full range of motion in both of his arms and shoulders. The only physical complaint of pain he made was when he was being handcuffed for transport to Chino State Prison on June 28, 2004. Miller was seen by a number of medical professionals after his arrest and initial examination by LAFD personnel. On June 23, Miller was transported to White Memorial Hospital where shoulder x-rays were taken. Nasal x-rays were taken several days later. The x-rays revealed that Miller had no broken bones. According to hospital reports, the only visible injuries observed on Miller were the abrasions to Miller’s right wrist consistent with handcuffs being applied too tightly. Miller complained of pain to his right wrist and left shoulder but did not complain of any head injuries. During the evening of June 23, a County Jail physician examined Miller who complained that his left shoulder was sore with limited mobility and that his nose and right wrist hurt. Again, Miller did not complain of any head injury or pain to his head other than the injury to his nose. The treating physician examined Miller’s nose and found it to be tender and swollen but with no bleeding inside the nose. He determined that Miller’s injuries were not serious requiring over-the-counter pain medication such as Tylenol or Motrin only. Due to complaints of dizziness while at Chino State Prison, Miller was transported to Riverside County Regional Medical Center (RCRMC) on June 30, 2004. There, doctors performed a computed axial tomography (CAT) scan. The results were normal. On July 8, 2004, and July 22, 2004, Miller returned to RCRMC for auditory/brainstem evoked potentials test and an electroencephalogram. All tests were normal. The doctors at RCRMC advised Miller to take Tylenol or Motrin as needed. Excerpts from CHARGE EVALUATION REPORT, LAPD OFFICER JOHN HATFIELD, Report 04-0620R, JUSTICE SYSTEM INTEGRITY DIVISION, STEVE COOLEY, District Attorney, February 3, 2005. No charges were filed and Miller was given $450,000. On May 1st, 2007, the LAPD reacted to May Day Marches in favor of illegal immigrant rights with what critics claim was excessive force using nonlethal weaponry on reporters and demonstrators. The most notable incident was at MacArthur Park[4] Leading up to this incident over the police radio, supervisors beyond field Sergeants gave specific orders and later gave mixed accounts in a news conference. Command staff ID's were heard giving METRO deployments to MacArthur park. On May 7th, 2007, at a news conference with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Commission President John Mack, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton announced changes to his command staff in an attempt to fix the problems. Deputy Chief Cayler "Lee" Carter, Commanding Officer of Operations-Central Bureau, was demoted to the rank of Commander. However, he was then assigned to his home with pay. On May 8, 2007, Chief Bratton announced that Cmdr. Sergio G. Diaz would replace Carter at the Police Commission meeting. Additionally, Commander Louis Gray, Assistant Commanding Officer of Operations-Central Bureau, was reassigned to the Office of Operations. During the recent May 1, 2007 illegal immigrant rally demonstration at MacArthur Park, Carter served as the highest-ranking officer present. Gray was the second highest-ranking officer on scene.
Scandals
Rodney King 1992 LA riots Rampart Scandal Rafael Pérez (police officer); Javier Ovando, an unarmed teen shot, paralyzed, and framed by Pérez. Ovando served 2.5 years of his 23-year prison sentence before being exonerated and released. Mark Fuhrman
Board of Police Commissioners
The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners is a five-member body of appointed officials which oversees the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The board functions like a corporate board of directors and is responsible for setting policies for the department and overseeing its operations.
LAPD Operations
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Currently, the Los Angeles Police Department is organized as follows:
- Office of the Chief of Police
- Executive Administrative Assistant
- Adjutant to the Chief of Police
- Community Relations Section
- Office of the Chief of Staff (First Assistant Chief)
- Employee Relations Group
- Public Information Office
- Use of Force Review Division
- Governmental Liaison Section
- Professional Standards Bureau
- Internal Affairs Group
- Administrative Investigation Division
- Criminal Investigation Division
- Special Operations Division
- Force Investigation Division
- Internal Affairs Group
- Consent Decree Bureau (which is the federal supervision unit)
- TEAMS II Development Bureau
- Risk Management Group
- Civil Rights Integrity Division
- Audit Division
- Counter Terrorism & Criminal Intelligence Bureau
- Assistant Commanding Officer
- Major Crimes Division
- Emergency Services Division
- Incident Management & Training Bureau
- Training Group
- Training Division
- Continuing Education Division
- Police Training & Education
- Training Group
- Director, Office of Support Services
- Executive Officer
- Planning & Research Division
- Ombuds Office
- Transit Liaison Unit
- Information & Communications Services Bureau
- Assistant Commanding Officer
- Communications Division
- Emergency Command Control Communications System Division
- Information Technology Division
- Records & Identification Division
- Administrative & Technical Services Bureau
- Assistant Commanding Officer
- Property Division
- Motor Transport Division
- Scientific Investigation Division (Overseen by both Assistant C/Os)
- Assistant Commanding Officer
- Facilities Management Division
- Fiscal Operations Division
- Personnel Group
- Behavioral Science Services Group
- Assistant Commanding Officer
- Executive Officer
- Director, Office of Operations
- Assistant to the Director, Office of Operations
- Jail Division
- Special Assistant
- Evaluation & Administration Section
- Chief Duty Officer
- CompStat Unit
- Special Operations Bureau
- Assistant Commanding Officer, Special Operations Bureau
- Metropolitan Division
- Air Support Division
- Emergency Operations Division
- Real-Time Analysis & Critical Response Division
- Detective Bureau
- Detective Services Group
- Robbery-Homicide Division
- Commercial Crimes Division
- Juvenile Division
- Detective Support & Vice Division
- Specialized Services Group
- Narcotics Division
- Gang & Operations Support Division
- Investigative Analysis Section
- Detective Services Group
- Operations-Central Bureau
- Central Area
- Hollenbeck Area
- Newton Area
- Northeast Area
- Rampart Area
- Central Traffic Division
- Operations-South Bureau
- Criminal Gang Homicide Group
- 77th Street Area
- Harbor Area
- Southeast Area
- Southwest Area
- South Traffic Division
- Operations-Valley Bureau
- Devonshire Area
- Foothill Area
- Mission Area
- North Hollywood Area
- Van Nuys Area
- West Valley Area
- Valley Traffic Division
- Operations-West Bureau
- Hollywood Area
- Pacific Area
- LAX Field Services Division
- West Los Angeles Area
- Wilshire Area
- West Traffic Division
- Assistant to the Director, Office of Operations
Organizational Notes
- The Mission Area (#19) began operations in May 2005; the first new division to be deployed in more than a quarter of a century. The division covers the eastern half of the old Devonshire and the western half of the Foothill Divisions in the San Fernando Valley which is mostly composed of illegal aliens.
- 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 Olympic Area (#20) and Northwest Area (#21) are currently under construction and are due to be operational by November and October 2008, respectively. [5]
Demographics
- Male: 82%
- Females: 18%
- White: 46%
- Hispanic: 33%
- African-American: 14%
- Asian: 7%
LAPD chiefs of police
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The LAPD in popular media
The LAPD is well-represented in popular media. Several prominent representations include Adam-12, Dragnet, Crash, and the The Shield series. The independently iconic television series Dragnet, with LAPD Detective Joe Friday 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 Dragnet's 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 black community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay.[7] It has also been the subject of several novels, probably the most famous of which is L.A. Confidential, a novel by James Ellroy that was made into a film of the same name. Both chronicled mass-murder and corruption inside and outside the force. 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.[8] L.A. Confidential is part of a modern trend of more negative portrayals of the department that started with the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots. There was, however, much tension in LA prior to the riots, as evidenced by songs such as Fuck Tha Police by NWA. The Closer is a contemporary example of a neutral portrayal which has been missing in recent media coverage of the LAPD.
See also
- Los Angeles General Services Police
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
- Police corruption
- Police brutality
- Rodney King
- 1992 Los Angeles riots
- Police patch collecting
- CRASH
- Christopher Commission
- COINTELPRO
- LAPD: Life On the Beat
Footnotes
- ^ Newton, Jim. "ACLU Says 83% of Police Live Outside L.A." Los Angeles Times 29 March 1994: B1.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Women in LAPD, <http://www.lapdonline.org/history_of_the_lapd/content_basic_view/833>. Retrieved on 2007-09-21
- ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-media3may03,0,6704192.story?coll=la-home-headlines
- ^ http://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/news_view/36684
- ^ Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers
- ^ * Michael J. Hayde, My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb, Cumberland House, 2001, ISBN 1-581-82190-5, quote at p. 192.
- ^ Roger Ebert, L.A. Confidential (review), Chicago Sun-Times, September 19, 1997.
References
- Board of Police Commissioners
- Office of the Chief of Police
- LAPD Organizational Chart
- LAPD Citywide-Bureau Map
- Current Command Staff
- Citywide CompStat Statistics
- Corwin, Miles (1997). The Killing Season . New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80235-X.
- Corwin, Miles (2003). Homicide Special: A Year With the LAPD's Elite Detective Unit. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 0-8050-6798-1.
- Domanick, Joe (1994). To Protect and to Serve: The LAPD's Century of War in the City of Dreams. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-9727625-5-8.
- Gates, Daryl F. (1992). Chief: My Life in the LAPD. New York: Bantam. ISBN 0-553-56205-3.
- Sjoquist, Art R. (1984). History of the Los Angeles Police Department. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club.
- Starr, Kevin (2004). Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2003. New York: Knopf.
- Stoker, Charles (1951). Thicker'n Thieves. Sutter.
- Wambaugh, Joseph (1973). The Onion Field. Delacorte.
- Webb, Jack (1958). The Badge: The Inside Story of One of America's Great Police Departments. New York: Prentice-Hall.
External links
- On the Front Line in the War on Terrorism, City Journal, Summer 2007
- Official LAPD blog
- LAPD History of the LAPD
- LAPD list of movies and TV programs
- LAPD Recruitment
- LAPD Jobs
- LAPD Radio History
- HOLLENBECK - The Official MySpace Page of the upcoming Motion Picture
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| School districts: Los Angeles Unified School District · Las Virgenes Unified School District |
