Los Angeles Police Department Meltdown

Once considered among the most respected police departments in the world, the LAPD suffered a devastating fall from grace following the 1991 police officer beating of Rodney King and the Los Angeles riots stemming from the officers acquittal in 1992. Unique to the literature of policing, management, and policy studies, Los Angeles Police Departmen

Once considered among the most respected police departments in the world, the LAPD suffered a devastating fall from grace following the 1991 police officer beating of Rodney King and the Los Angeles riots stemming from the officers’ acquittal in 1992. Unique to the literature of policing, management, and policy studies, Los Angeles Police Department Meltdown: The Fall of the Professional-Reform Model of Policing presents what can be considered the first and only existing research document truly explaining the reasons behind the LAPD’s demise. The book reveals a special inside study performed by the author under the exclusive authority of LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates to investigate why the department had begun to disintegrate following the Rodney King incident, and how, if possible, it could be salvaged. The findings presented are based on first-hand written accounts of LAPD officer informants who describe their observations of the department’s meltdown as it occurred. These accounts explain why the crime-fighting enforcement style of the once highly regarded Professional-Reform Model of policing (coined at the LAPD) was abandoned in police departments across the nation in favor of the less aggressive community-based policing model. Lost for some 20 years under mysterious circumstances after collection and storage at the LAPD, these officer informant materials were recently retrieved and made available for analysis. They are presented in their entirety in this book. In every respect, this work is the final word on why and how the LAPD—a police organization emulated throughout the world—ultimately self-destructed after 41 years of serving and protecting the City of Angels.

How Rodney King and the riots changed Los Angeles and the LAPD.

In the wake of the Rodney King/Los Angeles Police incident, the Independent Commission on the L.A. Police Dept. was created to examine any aspect of the law enforcement structure in L.A. that might cause or contribute to the excessive use of force. This reports presents the results of this unprecedented inquiry, conducted through witness testimony; interviews of private citizens and current and retired police officers; computerized studies of force reports and complaints filed by the public; reviews of patrol car communications; and examination of the files in civil damage cases. Recommendations are presented in detail.

For the past thirty years, the Los Angeles Police Department has been accused of endless charges of brutality and corruption. From the highly public and polarizing Rodney King beating, to the shocking Rampart Scandal, many have viewed the department as a brutal, yet effective, crime fight force. To this end, many blame the more controversial acts of the department on a "few bad apples." Covering the time from Chief Gates' tenure until the end of the Rampart Scandal, The Thin Blue Line brings forgotten and startling events from the last thirty years of the L.A.P.D.'s shocking history to life. Attempting to view brutality and corruption through a critical lens, this book uses extensive research to investigate the various charges police corruption as a result of the different policing styles implemented by the department throughout the years, and not the result of a "few bad apples."

In 1869, the police force in Los Angeles went from a voluntary to a paid city police force. Since then, thousands upon thousands of men and women have served on the Los Angeles Police Department. In this book, thirty-four former officers share stories of their experiences in police work in their own words. Of the thirty-four, the first officer came on in 1941 and the last officer retired in 2009, a range of time just short of seventy years. The experiences recounted in this book cover a wide range of assignments and speak to just about any situation a police officer can encounter. The officers were frank, truthful, and open about an occupation met with everything from monotony to split-second life and death decisions. They recounted their thoughts of purpose, duty, and in many instances, valor. Whether rescuing an abused child, confronting armed individuals, managing civil disorder, or losing one of their own, the officers in this book reveal the human element present in all those who serve in law enforcement.

No police force in history has gained as much fame and notoriety as the Los Angeles Police Department. The acronym LAPD is practically synonymous with the idea of professional law enforcement. The men in blue who patrol Hollywood and the sprawling metropolis of L.A. have been investigated by screenwriters more times than vice versa. With more than 9,300 sworn officers today, the LAPD endures seemingly endless controversies and media circuses. But then there's the other side of L.A.'s protective shield--the story of the force's evolution alongside the spectacular growth of its unique melting-pot city. This book's rare and often never-before-published photographs focus on that side: the excitement, danger, tragedy, and comedy of everyday beat cops and workaday detectives--with concessions to their limelight representations, including Jack Webb's Dragnet and Adam-12.