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Revision as of 04:46, 11 February 2008

"LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For LAPD, see LAPD (disambiguation).
Los Angeles Police Department
File:LAPD Seal.jpg
Motto"To protect and to serve"
Operational structure
Sworn members9,600
Facilities
Stations21
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 (1,230 km2) with a population of more than 3.5 million people, it is the fifth largest law enforcement agency in the United States (behind the New York City Police Department, Chicago Police Department, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation). 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.

Organization

An LAPD Bell 206 JetRanger

Resources, mobility and technology

Main articles: Los Angeles Police Department resources and Los Angeles Police Department § External links

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)[citation needed]

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.

Limitations

The Los Angeles Police Department has long suffered from chronic underfunding and under-staffing. In contrast to most large cities in the United States, Los Angeles has historically had one of the lowest ratios of police personnel to population served. The present Department Chief, William J. Bratton, has 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 LAPD's own web site illustrates the challenges faced by the department [2]. As a point of comparison, New York City boasts one NYPD officer for every 228 residents. Resulting disadvantages of such a large police force is that advancement within the NYPD is difficult and salary and benefits are limited. As of the Spring of 2007, the LAPD was offering as much as $74,000 to new recruits. The NYPD offers new recruits substantially lower salaries compared to the LAPD, usually ranging from $30,000-$40,000. Further points of comparison include Chicago, which has a ratio of one officer per 216 citizens and Philadelphia, whose officer per citizen ratio is one to 219. 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 to add nearly 17,000 officers. As of the spring of 2007, the Department is in the middle of a massive recruiting effort, looking to hire an additional 1,500 police 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.[citation needed]

The LAPD also hired the first known black Police Officer in America.[citation needed]

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

File:Parkercenter.jpg
Parker Center-LAPD's Headquarters

The Los Angeles Police Department is comprised of 19 divisions in 4 bureaus. By the end of 2008, 2 additional divisions will be added called Mid-City and Northwest. Below are descriptions of a few divisions throughout the city:

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 and is within the West Bureau. This division is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the 405 to the east, Venice Boulevard to the north and Imperial Highway to the south. 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.

Rank structure and insignia

Title Insignia
Chief
Assistant Chief
Deputy Chief
Commander
Captain I/Captain II/Captain III
Lieutenant I/Lieutenant II
Detective III
Sergeant II
Detective II
Sergeant I
Police Officer III+1/Senior Lead Officer
Police Officer III
Police Officer II/Detective II
Police Officer/Detective
Central Facilities Building

Rank insignia for Lieutenant I through Chief is worn on the collars of the shirt and the shoulders of the jacket. Rank insignia for Police Officers/Detectives and Sergeant I and II is worn on the upper sleeves below the shoulder patch.

Main article: History of the Los Angeles Police Department

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 and scandals

The LAPD has been involved in a number of public controversies and scandals, most notably the infamous Rodney King beating and the subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots. Other controveries include detective Mark Fuhrman's role in the O. J. Simpson murder case (1994), the Rampart Scandal (2001) and the arrest of Stanley Miller (2004), and the Javier Ovando scandal, and the LAPD's reaction to illegal immigrant rallies (2007).



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

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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 Mid-City (Olympic) Area (#20) and Northwest Area (#21) are currently under construction and are due to be operational by November and October 2008, respectively. [4]

Demographics

  • Male: 82%
  • Females: 18%
  • White: 46%
  • Hispanic: 33%
  • African-American: 14%
  • Asian: 7%

[5]

LAPD chiefs of police

Name Term
Jacob F. Gerkens December 18, 1876–December 26, 1877
Emil Harris December 27, 1877–December 5, 1878
Henry King December 5, 1878–December 11, 1880
George E. Gard December 12, 1880–December 10, 1881
Henry King December 11, 1881–June 30, 1883
Thomas J. Cuddy July 1, 1883–January 1, 1885
Edward McCarthy January 2, 1885–May 12, 1885
John Horner May 13, 1885–December 22, 1885
James W. Davis December 22, 1885–December 8, 1886
John K. Skinner December 13, 1886–August 29, 1887
P.M. Darcy September 5, 1887–January 22, 1888
Thomas J. Cuddy January 23, 1888–September 4, 1888
L.G. Loomis September 5, 1888–September 30, 1888
Hubert H. Benedict October 1, 1888–January 1, 1889
Terrence Cooney January 1, 1889–April 1, 1889
James E. Burns April 1, 1889–July 17, 1889
John M. Glass July 17, 1889–January 1, 1900
Charles Elton 1900–1904
William A. Hammell 1904–1905
Walter H. Auble 1905–1906
Edward Kern 1906–1909
Thomas Broadhead 1909
Edward F. Dishman 1909–1910
Alexander Galloway 1910–1911
Charles E. Sebastian 1911–1915
Clarence E. Snively 1915–1916
John L. Butler 1916–1919
George K. Home 1919–1920
Alexander W. Murray 1920
Lyle Pendegast 1920–1921
Charles A. Jones 1921–1922
James W. Everington 1922
Louis D. Oaks 1922–1923
August Vollmer 1923–1924
R. Lee Heath 1924–1926
James E. Davis 1926–1929
Roy E. Steckel 1929–1933
James E. Davis 1933–1938
D. A. Davidson 1938–1939
Arthur C. Hohmann 1939–1941
Clemence B. Horrall 1941–1949
William A. Worton 1949–1950
William H. Parker 1950–1966
Thad F. Brown 1966–1967
Thomas Reddin 1967–1969
Roger E. Murdock 1969
Edward M. Davis August 29, 1969–January 16, 1978 [4]
Robert F. Rock January 16, 1978–March 28, 1978
Daryl F. Gates March 28, 1978–June 27, 1992
Willie L. Williams June 30, 1992–May 17, 1997
Bayan Lewis May 18, 1997–August 12, 1997
Bernard C. Parks August 12, 1997–May 4, 2002 [5]
Martin H. Pomeroy May 7, 2002–October 26, 2002 [6]
William J. Bratton October 27, 2002–present [7]

Fallen Officers

Since the establishment of the Los Angeles Police Department, 199 officers have died in the line of duty. [6]

The LAPD is well-represented in popular media. Several prominent representations include Adam-12, Dragnet, Crash, , the Lethal Weapon series, 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

Footnotes

  1. ^ Newton, Jim. "ACLU Says 83% of Police Live Outside L.A." Los Angeles Times 29 March 1994: B1.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Women in LAPD, retrieved 2007-09-21
  4. ^ http://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/news_view/36684
  5. ^ Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers
  6. ^ Officer Down Memorial Page
  7. ^ * 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.
  8. ^ 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.
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