It took Bradley two more years to take control of the Police Commission. Only then, in 1975, did the commission order the department"s Public Disorder Intelligence Division and Organized Crime Intelligence Division (the successors to Parker and Reddin"s intelligence division) to destroy the intelligence files the department had ama.s.sed over the course of the preceding four-odd decades. Some two million dossiers were shredded.* But both intelligence divisions were retained. Together, they continued to employ nearly two hundred officers. But both intelligence divisions were retained. Together, they continued to employ nearly two hundred officers.
IN JANUARY 1978, after eight years as chief of police, Ed Davis resigned in order to pursue a career in politics. He was not interested in running for mayor. ("That position has no power. I have more power than the mayor.") Only one position in California state government seemed like a clear step up-being governor. By making a run for statewide office, Davis gave Daryl Gates the opportunity he had been dreaming of since his very first days in the department, when Chief Parker first began to school him as his successor.
Mayor Bradley didn"t want him. The mayor was fed up with what his a.s.sociates referred to as "the LAPD mentality"-an att.i.tude that even Daryl Gates would later describe as "independence bordering on arrogance." Standing in his way was the system Bill Parker had created.
Los Angeles"s civil service code still required the Police Commission to select a new chief from one of the top three scorers on the combined written/oral promotional exam, although it had been amended to provide for the possibility of an outside candidate. Rumor had it that Santa Monica police chief George Tielsch (who"d previously headed the Seattle Police Department) was Bradley"s top choice. But at the end of the examination process, Daryl Gates was number one on the eligibility list.
The Police Commission hesitated. Selecting someone other than the top-ranked candidate would be a big Political risk. As it considered its choice, police commissioner Jim Fisk asked for a private meeting with Gates.
Fisk had been one of the LAPD"s most talented new officers. Like Bradley, he had joined the department in 1940. He quickly established himself as one of the department"s bravest policemen and routinely topped the civil service examinations. However, Fisk also had a reputation as a liberal. He was pa.s.sed over by Parker for a position as deputy chief in the mid-1950s. Tapped to lead the department"s community relations effort after Watts, he was pa.s.sed over for the position of chief after Parker died, despite having the highest civil service score. When Reddin retired, the Police Commission again ignored Fisk"s top score to select Ed Davis as police chief. Fisk left to teach at UCLA until he was summoned back by Mayor Bradley. As a member of the Police Commission, he was supposedly one of the department"s five bosses. As a result, Fisk might well have expected that when he asked Gates to be more "flexible"-to show some willingness to take direction from the Police Commission-the a.s.sistant chief would have responded positively.
"Okay. What issue do you want me to compromise on?" Gates replied.
The Police Commission was under pressure to contain the department"s rising costs (which were increasing, in no small measure, as a result of a pay increase Gates himself had championed as a.s.sistant chief). Fisk explained that he and his fellow commissioners felt that one way to mitigate the problem would be to prune the number of upper-level positions in the department. Gates listened noncommittally. He knew that one of his rivals for the top position, deputy chief Bob Vernon, had presented the commission with a detailed plan for tr.i.m.m.i.n.g top management. Yet when Gates appeared before the full Police Commission and was asked if he"d be willing to eliminate upper-management positions, his reply was a simple "No."
"Why not?" Fisk asked.
"You know," Gates replied, "you people are really amazing. On the one hand, you talk very strongly about affirmative action, about moving blacks and Hispanics and women up in the organization. At the same time you want to cut out all of these top jobs. How are you going to have vacancies to move people into when you"ve slashed all these positions from the top?"
It was a remarkably insouciant response-and vintage Gates. Instead of offering a concession that would allow the Police Commission to choose him and save face, Gates was in effect daring them to pick someone else. They didn"t have the nerve to. On March 24, 1978, Daryl Gates was named the next chief of police. He was sworn in four days later. The system that Bill Parker had created could not be broken. Chief Gates soon settled in as a chief in the Parker mold. Then came the evening of Sat.u.r.day, March 2, 1991. As in Watts, it started with the California Highway Patrol.
TIM AND MELANIE SINGER were a husband-and-wife Highway Patrol team. On the night of March 2, they were patrolling the Foothill Freeway north of Los Angeles. They were headed toward Simi Valley when, in their rearview mirror, they spotted a white Hyundai gaining on them, fast. They pulled over and watched it blow past at upward of a hundred miles per hour. They gave chase, but the car ignored the patrol car"s sirens. Instead, it accelerated. Units from the LAPD joined the chase. The Hyundai exited the freeway on Paxton Street, maintaining speeds of up to eighty-five miles per hour on residential streets, and tore through a red light at Van Nuys and Foothills, nearly causing a collision, before a pickup truck that was partially blocking the road brought the car to a stop just beyond the intersection of Osborne and Foothills, near the darkened entrance to Hansen Dam Park.
There were three pa.s.sengers in the car, all black men. Two pa.s.sengers got out and, following police instructions, lay down p.r.o.ne on the ground. The driver of the car hesitated and then slowly climbed out. Across the street, the sirens and police helicopter awakened a plumbing supply store manager, who"d recently purchased a video camera. He dressed and stumbled out to his balcony with the camcorder. Then he turned it on and captured nine minutes and twenty seconds of footage that showed a large black man charging the police. An officer swung his baton at the man, knocking him down. The officer kept swinging as the man writhed across the ground. A large group of officers stood by, arms folded. The man was then taken into custody. The videographer was disturbed by what seemed to be a brutal and blatant example of "street justice." The next day, he offered his tape first to the LAPD and then to CNN. Neither was interested. On Monday, the videographer took it to a local television station, KTLA. That evening, KTLA put the tape up on the ten o"clock news. By Tuesday morning, CNN (which had an affiliate agreement with KTLA) had started to put an edited version on the air, one that had cut out the driver"s initial charge at the police. NBC had a tape by later in the day. The beating of Rodney King was now playing endlessly across the country.
The LAPD hierarchy was shocked by what they saw, although many commanders saw something very different from what the public did. LAPD Sgt. Charles Duke, a martial arts consultant, was distressed by how ineffectively the arresting officer used his baton. Other officers were disturbed by the failure of the supervising sergeant to make use of the large numbers of officers who had arrived at the scene and stood by watching. But the bra.s.s had no interest in examining the possibility that poor training had played a role in the beating. Instead, Chief Gates described the beating as an "aberration" and promised a full investigation. Mayor Bradley vowed that "appropriate action" would be taken against the officers involved. County DA Ira Reiner immediately convened a grand jury and within two weeks of the incident, four of the officers involved were indicted.
Mayor Bradley decided the time was right to a.s.sert his authority over the police department-authority that, legally, he did not have. On April 1, he announced the formation of "an independent commission" on the Los Angeles Police Department. Its chairman was attorney Warren Christopher, former vice chairman of the McCone Commission, deputy attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, deputy secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter, and a partner at O"Melveny & Myers, the city"s most powerful law firm. The day after announcing the appointment, Bradley asked Gates for his resignation. Gates refused.
The Police Commission, whose members were Bradley loyalists, met secretly (in violation of state law) and then informed the chief that they were voting to put him on unpaid leave to investigate "serious allegations of mismanagement." This angered the chief. It was Mayor Bradley, not he, who had recently been dogged by a series of allegations about improper entanglements with businessmen seeking favors from the city. Gates said he"d see them in court. The city council, led by John Ferraro, pressured the Police Commission to reinstate Gates. Finally, after a judge issued a restraining order against the commission"s attempted action, Ferraro managed to persuade Bradley and Gates to agree to a truce. Privately, though, Gates had come to believe that Bradley "had brought to Los Angeles a rat"s nest of impropriety not seen since the days of the Shaw regime of the 1930s." Meanwhile, the prosecutors" case against the officers involved in the beating moved forward.
Three months later, on July 9, the Christopher Commission issued its report-and called for Chief Gates"s resignation. Its conclusions were d.a.m.ning. The report described a department with a small number of "problem officers," who employed deadly force yet who never seemed to receive serious punishment. The commission criticized the department"s retreat from community policing and spoke directly to the culture Daryl Gates had inherited and intensified: L.A.P.D. officers are trained to command and to confront, not to communicate. Regardless of their training, officers who are expected to produce high citation and arrest statistics and low response times do not also have time to explain their actions, to apologize when they make a mistake, or even to ask about problems in a neighborhood.
The historian Lou Cannon would later characterize the Christopher Commission report as "an impressive and penetrating indictment of the Los Angeles Police Department and its "siege mentality."" But Cannon noted that it was also seriously flawed.
One of the commission"s most troubling findings was that the LAPD harbored a number of officers with racist sentiments. The evidence for this proposition came primarily from the text messages officers had sent to each other from their patrol cars" MDT units. Over the course of six months, the commission had reviewed six million text messages. Most had been about routine police matters, but a small yet "disturbing" subset suggested a culture of excessive force and racism. Examples cited included references to "kicking" witnesses, "queen cars," and-worst of all-"monkey-slapping time." It looked bad-Christopher would describe these texts as "abhorrent"-but only to someone who knew nothing at all about police lingo. "Kicking" a suspect meant releasing him. "Monkey-slapping time" was slang for goofing off. A "queen car" was not an automobile driven by h.o.m.os.e.xuals but rather a unit from a station a.s.signed to a special duty. When the police department reviewed the texts in question (and eliminated phrases such as "Praise the lord and pa.s.s the ammunition" from the list of objectionable statements), it found 277 references to incidents that appeared to involve misconduct and 12 racial slurs-out of 6 million text messages. It is hard to imagine any big-city police department (or, for that matter, any inst.i.tution at all) doing better. Not surprisingly, Gates responded by calling the group"s report "a travesty."
Inaccurate though it was in many of its details, the Christopher Commission nonetheless identified what was in many ways the deepest source of tension between Bradley and Gates-namely, the police chief"s extraordinary lack of accountability to the city"s elected officials. That more than anything was Parker"s legacy. Warren Christopher proposed to end it. Under a ballot proposition endorsed by his commission, the Police Commission would select three candidates, rank their preferences, and then send the list to the mayor to make the final choice, subject to the city council"s approval. The Police Commission would be able to fire the chief at any point, with the mayor"s concurrence. (The city council would also be able to overturn the Police Commission and mayor"s decision with a two-thirds vote.) Gates immediately recognized that the true goal of the commission was "controlling the police." Protege of Bill Parker that he was, he vowed to fight it. Otherwise, "the chief would be silenced by the politicians and subject to the mayor"s every whim.... The L.A.P.D. would become politicized for the first time since the corrupt 1930s."
That it might simply become accountable to the people"s chosen representatives apparently never occurred to him. But Gates did understand that pressure to oust him was mounting. Fed up with being under a.s.sault, he was more than ready to leave-but he wanted to leave on his own terms. In late July, Gates announced that he would step down as chief the following year, in the spring of 1992. Until then, however, Gates resolved that he would do everything he could to preserve the chief"s prerogatives for his successor. Capping the police chief"s tenure and changing lines of authority in the department would require a change to the city charter. That would require a citywide referendum, one that would most likely be scheduled for the next round of munic.i.p.al elections in June 1992. Chief Gates vowed to fight it.
Meanwhile, the lawyers for the officers indicted in the Rodney King beating were preparing motions that would transfer the trial to a location outside of L.A. County. But prosecutors weren"t particularly worried. No trial had been moved outside of Los Angeles since 1978. On November 26, 1991, however, Judge Stanley Weisberg agreed to do just that. He transferred the case to Simi Valley, a bedroom community of 100,000 people northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County. Simi Valley was conservative, 80 percent white (and just 1.5 percent black), and popular with LAPD retirees. A more favorable venue for the police officers was hard to imagine.
JURY SELECTION BEGAN in February 1992. At the end of the month, prosecutors faced an all-white jury. On March 2, 1992, one day short of the first anniversary of the Rodney King incident, the trial got under way. In the mind of the public, the Rodney King beating was a straightforward case of police brutality. But in the courtroom, matters weren"t so clear-cut. Rodney King had led the police on a high-speed car chase. As the arresting officers feared, he was an intoxicated ex-con. Tests for PCP proved inconclusive, but officers" fears were understandable in light of what had occurred before the famous videotape started running. King had thrown off four officers who attempted to "swarm" him and had then shaken off two attempts to subdue him with a Taser, before charging the police. All of these factors lent credence to the claims made by officers on the scene that they believed they were dealing with someone high on PCP, whom they were endeavoring to subdue without shooting him. On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted the four police officers on all but one of the charges.
The jury in Simi Valley had been out for deliberation for almost a week. As the days pa.s.sed, anxiety in South-Central Los Angeles had steadily grown. Watts had come as a horrible surprise, a ma.s.sive riot whose precipitating incident had been a random California Highway Patrol stop. But by 1992, most residents of Los Angeles understood the possibility of urban violence. When the jury told the presiding judge it had reached a verdict, the court immediately informed the LAPD-and delayed the courtroom opening of the verdict for two hours, a decision that gave the LAPD time to prepare. But with a handful of exceptions, no preparations were made.
For a department that had long been obsessed with its failure to contain the Watts riots, the apparent lack of concern about what might ensue in the event of an acquittal was curious. But even if no operational preparations for trouble had commenced, it would have been reasonable to expect that the LAPD now had the tactics, training, and materiel to respond to a Watts-style insurrection. After all, Chief Gates himself had seen the inadequacies of the department"s earlier preparations. He had also seen the danger of withdrawing from a riot area in the hope that an outbreak of violence would burn itself out. LAPD policy was clear: The department would respond with overwhelming force (which included two armored personnel carriers) to any outbreak of civil unrest, arresting and prosecuting everyone involved and cordoning off the area so that the violence would not spread.
At least, that was the theory. But as angry crowds gathered at the intersection of 55th and Normandie, the LAPD once again seemed utterly unprepared. Worse, it seemed complacent. Requests to deploy the elite Metro unit in riot gear had been rebuffed on the theory that "riots don"t happen during the daytime." No tear gas had been distributed; requests to deploy rubber bullets had been rejected; and no instructions had been provided to officers at the 77th Street station, which was located in the heart of South-Central. By 5:30 p.m., rioting had begun. Its epicenter was the intersection of Florence and Normandie. As in Watts, a crowd had a.s.sembled near the scene where police were making an arrest-and the crowd was quickly turning ugly. The LAPD now faced its post-Watts moment of truth. But instead of clearing the mob and seizing control of the intersection, as post-Watts operating procedure called for, LAPD personnel on the scene pulled back. By 5:45, the rioters had the streets to themselves.
The mood at police headquarters (known since 1969 as Parker Center) was oddly unconcerned. In recent months, the once-defiant Gates had become disengaged. Everyone expected that he would resign soon but no one knew when. As for Mayor Bradley, who had not spoken to his police chief in thirteen months, he seemed more concerned about the possibility that the LAPD might spark violence by overreacting than about the violence that was already unfolding. Neither man seemed able to grasp the reality of what was happening. When a reporter stopped Chief Gates at half past six that evening and asked how the LAPD was responding to the growing unrest, he paused and then placidly replied that the department was responding "calmly, maturely, and professionally." Then he left for a fund-raiser in Mandeville Canyon in distant Brentwood. Its purpose was to raise money to oppose Amendment F, the amendment to the city charter proposed by the Christopher Commission that would give the mayor authority to select the police chief and limit future police chiefs to two five-year terms.
BACK IN SOUTH-CENTRAL, the Watts riots seemed to be replaying themselves. Once again, the rioters broke into the liquor stores first, then the p.a.w.nshops, where they found an ample supply of guns. Once again, confusion reigned at 77th Street station. No effort was made to regain control of the street. No perimeter was established to contain the violence. The major routes into South-Central were not sealed off. Meanwhile, the area"s gangs took control of the streets, much as they had back in 1965. White motorists who ventured into the riot zone were dragged out of their cars and beaten. The most horrifying episode involved a white big-rig truck driver, Reginald Denny, who was pulled out of his cab by a handful of black youths, kicked, beaten with a claw hammer, and then nearly killed by a youth, Damian Williams, who struck Denny on the head with a block of concrete. As Chief Gates drove toward Brentwood-and Mayor Bradley drove toward the launch of his "Operation Cool Response"-Angelenos watched in horror as news helicopters hovering overhead televised Williams doing a touchdown-style dance and flashing the symbol of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips.* Not until 8:15 p.m. did Gates return to Parker Center. Not until 8:15 p.m. did Gates return to Parker Center.
In 1965, Parker had pushed early and hard for the National Guard while Lt. Gov. Glenn Anderson hesitated. In 1992, it was Gov. Pete Wilson who pushed hardest for the Guard. At 9 p.m. that night, Wilson finally prevailed upon Mayor Bradley and Chief Gates to allow him to summon the National Guard. Not until later that night when he went out into the field did Gates grasp the magnitude of the disaster that was unfolding-and the extent of the LAPD"s failure. The staging area at 77th Street station was complete chaos. The most basic tenets of riot control, such as cordoning off the area where violence was occurring, had not been observed. Gates had trusted his commanders, and they had failed him. The chief, who treated his senior commanders much more kindly than Chief Parker had, erupted in rage. Then, like a ghost, he disappeared into the night with his driver and a security aide.
In the early hours of the morning, two officers guarding a church at the corner of Arlington and Vernon were startled to see the chief pull up. Gates asked if they needed anything. One of the officers requested a Diet c.o.ke from a nearby convenience store. "No problem," said the chief. A few minutes later, Gates"s driver returned-without the soda. Gates wanted them to light their safety flares so that no one would run into their car by accident.
"There"s a riot going on, and the chief is micromanaging how our car was parked," one of the officers later marveled. He laughed at this advice. The other officer was more upset. She"d really wanted a Diet c.o.ke.
Gates did not return to the command post until 6 a.m. that morning. Only then, on Thursday morning, did the LAPD request a.s.sistance from the sheriff"s department, which was prepared to lend the department up to five hundred officers. That night, the National Guard at last began to deploy. Not until Monday morning, May 4, was the violence finally stopped. By then, fifty-four people had died, more than two thousand had been injured and treated in hospital emergency rooms, and more than eight hundred buildings had burned-four times the number destroyed during the Watts riots. Because of the LAPD"s failure to cordon off the area where the violence started, the looting and violence spread much farther than it had in 1965. Venice and Hollywood saw outbreaks of violence. Homeowners in posh Hanc.o.c.k Park and elsewhere hired mercenaries to protect their neighborhoods. Ultimately, property damages exceeded $900 million.
As the historian Lou Cannon has noted, there was a terrible irony to what had transpired: Ironically, the L.A.P.D. was unprepared for the riots largely because Gates had not demonstrated the independence he feared would be stripped from future chiefs. Instead of standing up to Mayor Bradley and the black leaders who feared that aggressive police deployment might cause a provocation, Gates had attempted to appease politicians by ordering the department to keep a low profile during jury deliberations.
By failing to respond forcefully to the riots, the LAPD had shown, in effect, that it had already lost its independence.
On June 2, just a month after the riots had ended, the voters of Los Angeles made it official. Prior to the riots, Warren Christopher had drafted Charter Amendment F, which limited the police chief"s tenure to two five-year terms, stripped civil service protections from the chief"s position, and allowed the Police Commission to remove a chief for reasons other than misconduct. Charter Amendment F also targeted the protections Parker had won for the rank and file, adding a civilian to the department"s internal disciplinary panels and generally weakening procedural protections for police officers. Yet despite the unfavorable publicity that had followed the release of the Rodney King video, Amendment F"s electoral prospects had been uncertain. That changed after the riots. The vote now offered voters a chance to weigh in on the performance of Chief Gates. On June 2, 1992, by a two-to-one margin, voters approved Christopher"s charter amendment. Daryl Gates retired three weeks later. The system Bill Parker had created was finally dead.
* Former intelligence division chief Daryl Gates would later insist this was much ado about nothing: "Many of those "files" were 3 5 index cards used to reference files which contained only newspapers clippings." Even if this is true, that still meant that the LAPD had collected, by Gates"s own estimation, "highly sensitive information" roughly 100,000 "subversives." This was intelligence gathering on a very large scale. (Gates, Former intelligence division chief Daryl Gates would later insist this was much ado about nothing: "Many of those "files" were 3 5 index cards used to reference files which contained only newspapers clippings." Even if this is true, that still meant that the LAPD had collected, by Gates"s own estimation, "highly sensitive information" roughly 100,000 "subversives." This was intelligence gathering on a very large scale. (Gates, Chief Chief, 226.)* Denny lived only because four other neighborhood residents-African Americans all-saw what was happening on television and rushed out to the intersection in question. Finding Denny, one member of the party, a truck driver, drove him to a nearby hospital, where a team of five surgeons [two of them African Americans] managed to save his life. (Cannon, Denny lived only because four other neighborhood residents-African Americans all-saw what was happening on television and rushed out to the intersection in question. Finding Denny, one member of the party, a truck driver, drove him to a nearby hospital, where a team of five surgeons [two of them African Americans] managed to save his life. (Cannon, Official Negligence Official Negligence, 308-309.)
AcknowledgmentsTHIS BOOK BEGAN five years ago, when I went to Los Angeles to report a story on LAPD chief William Bratton for Governing Governing magazine. I had lived in Los Angeles previously and had been fascinated by its history. As a result, I was more interested in the history of the department than I might otherwise have been. I soon found myself pondering a puzzle: How did the police department of James "Two Gun" Davis and "b.l.o.o.d.y Christmas"-the magazine. I had lived in Los Angeles previously and had been fascinated by its history. As a result, I was more interested in the history of the department than I might otherwise have been. I soon found myself pondering a puzzle: How did the police department of James "Two Gun" Davis and "b.l.o.o.d.y Christmas"-the L.A. Confidential L.A. Confidential LAPD, as it were-suddenly become the LAPD, as it were-suddenly become the Dragnet Dragnet LAPD? How did a department that had answered for decades to corrupt politicians come to answer to no one? The more deeply I read, the more convinced I became that the answer was bound up in the life of Chief William H. Parker. LAPD? How did a department that had answered for decades to corrupt politicians come to answer to no one? The more deeply I read, the more convinced I became that the answer was bound up in the life of Chief William H. Parker.I knew Parker only as a name, an esteemed but controversial police chief whom criminologists a.s.sociated with what they call "the professional model" of policing. To his many admirers, he was a saint and a prophet. To his many detractors, he was an "arrogant racist" who nearly destroyed the west"s greatest city. I approached him as a person. For that initial introduction, I must first thank Sgt. Steve Williams and Regina Menez of the William H. Parker Police Foundation, and Parker Foundation president Kenneth Esteves for generously opening the archive records to me. Retired LAPD officer Dennis DeNoi was an early and enthusiastic guide to their contents. After a week of reading in the archives, I was convinced that the story of Chief Parker"s LAPD was central to the history of Los Angeles and determined to write about it. My agent, Jill Kneerim, offered encouragement and wise counsel from the start. She pushed this book in all the right ways.The Los Angeles Police Department was exceptionally supportive from the beginning. The Police Commission, the city attorney"s office, and Chief Bratton gave me access to internal departmental records from the period, making me only the second outside researcher so favored. I gratefully acknowledge their help and support. Todd Gaydowski, records management officer for the City of Los Angeles, facilitated my every request. Mary Grady, Richard Tefank, and Tamryn Catania were unfailingly helpful.I owe a particular debt of grat.i.tude to the first researcher given access to the LAPD"s departmental files, Arizona State University professor Edward Escobar. Professor Escobar pointed me to one of the city"s most valuable historical resources, the LAPD sc.r.a.pbooks housed at the City Records Center atop the Piper Technical Center downtown. Professor Escobar also invited me into his own home for a week to review copies of LAPD files from the 1950s and 1960s that were deaccessioned by the department in 1999. His personal collection now const.i.tutes the most complete repository of official records from this era. I greatly appreciate his hospitality and admire his trailblazing work in the history of Chicano Los Angeles.At Piper Tech, I pa.s.sed many fascinating months in the company of city archivists Jay Jones and Mike Holland, who patiently explained to me the intricacies of Police Commission and city council minutes and their a.s.sociated files, while keeping me fueled with delectable home-roasted coffee. Todd Gaydowski was my guide to the LAPD"s chief of police files. Former Los Angeles archivist-turned-L.A. City Historical Society-dynamo Hynda Rudd also offered encouragement and advice. To Todd, Jay, Mike, and Hynda, my sincere thanks.Other archives also offered valuable a.s.sistance during the course of my research. The staff of the Newberry Library in Chicago provided enthusiastic a.s.sistance working with the Ben Hecht Collection. It was my week in Chicago that convinced me that Mickey Cohen, as both a product and a leader of the underworld, was the central antagonist in Parker"s story and an essential part of the history of Los Angeles. Back in Los Angeles, UCLA"s Special Collections was a home away from home. The Joseph Shaw, Harold Story, and Norris Poulson Collections all added greatly to my understanding of midcentury Los Angeles; interacting with UCLA staff was a daily pleasure. My sincere thanks to Angela Riggio, Genie Guerard, Robert Montoya, Aislinn Catherine Sotelo, and everyone there who helped me. Six weeks at the Huntington Library exploring the papers of former mayor Fletcher Bowron made me envy academics. My thanks to Laura Stalker for making that possible. In Washington, D.C., John Martin and the staff of the Library of Congress helped me do an amazing amount of West Coast research from the East Coast.Los Angeles Police Historical Society executive director Glynn Martin offered generous support and gentle corrections throughout. Former LAPD captain Will Gartland helped me connect with numerous veterans of Parker"s LAPD. Thank you to Arthur Sjoquist and everyone else who spoke to me. My special thanks to Joseph Parker, former chief Daryl Gates, former acting chief Bob Rock, former deputy chief Harold Sullivan, and Parker-era Police Commission members Frank Hathaway and Elbert Hudson. In Houston, Joseph and Jane Parker shared their time and reminiscences generously. Their recollections made Chief Parker come alive.Among the pleasures afforded me by this book was the chance to return to Santa Monica. Numerous friends, old and new, welcomed my family back to our old neighborhood. Ashley Salisbury repeatedly offered her sharp editorial eye as well as her delightful company; Marc and Jessica Evans offered friendship, encouragement, and dazzling generosity in all things. Yong-nam Jun brightened many a lunch at Philippe; Eric Moses provided insights and company; Andrew Sabl and Miriam Laugesen, a home to live in. Ana Lopez and Marva Bennett took care of our family like their own. From New York, Michael Cohen offered excellent suggestions and much-appreciated support. Robin Toone spared me from several legal errors.I owe a special debt of grat.i.tude to my editor at Governing Governing, Alan Ehrenhalt, and his wife, Suzanne. Thank you for your support, your excellent edits, and for giving me a job when I returned to D.C. My editor at Harmony Books, John Glusman, pushed me to find the story (and waited patiently while I did). This book is better off for it.Finally, thank you to my family. To my parents, John and Sally, without a lifetime of support, I would never have attempted to write this book. Without your many trips to Santa Monica, I would never have succeeded. Oliver and Tom, what wonders you are.The last paragraph goes to my wife, Melinda, who moved back to L.A. and made innumerable sacrifices over the course of five years so that I could write this book. I am profoundly grateful for your support, friendship, and love. It is to you that this book is dedicated.
Notes.
Chapter One: The Mickey Mouse Mafia"[A] dead-rotten law enforcement": Stoker, Thicker"n Thieves Thicker"n Thieves, 131.Mickey Cohen was not a man: "Year Pa.s.ses but Murder Not Solved: Search for Woman"s Slayer Recalls Other Mysteries," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, February 14, 1949; Stoker, Thicker"n Thieves Thicker"n Thieves, 199. Quotes from Cohen come primarily from his published memoirs (as told to John Peer Nugent), In My Own Words; In My Own Words; Muir, Muir, Headline Happy; Headline Happy; and Vaus"s and Vaus"s Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, as cited below."I looked": Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 4, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.The fact of the matter was: Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 30-31."Power"s a funny thing": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 81.Administrative vice"s response was: California Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime report, Sacramento, January 31, 1950, 32. See "Cohen Introduces Sound Recorder," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1949, 10, for an account of the incidents of the evening. "Cohen to Testify in Partner"s Case: Deputy Sheriff Denies Policeman"s Story That Meltzer Displayed Gun at Arrest," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1949, A8, would seem to verify Mickey"s claim that the gun was planted. However, historian Gerald Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," claims that strong circ.u.mstantial evidence linked the gun to Meltzer (404).Mickey was furious: Stoker, Thicker"n Thieves Thicker"n Thieves, 179. "Brenda"s Revenge," Time Time magazine, July 11, 1949. magazine, July 11, 1949.As Mickey started to: Mickey"s claim to have driven all the way back to Wilshire without looking up seems implausible given the two miles of curves he would have had to traverse on San Vicente Boulevard.Cohen didn"t report: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 122-23; Jennings, "Private Life of a Hood, Part III," October 4, 1958.The evening of: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 125-29. Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 202-10.By 3:30: Some accounts of the shooting mention only the shotgun (or two shotguns). See Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 205, 207-209; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 126.Later that night: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 202-209; "Full Story of Mob Shooting of Cohen," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, July 20, 1949.The papers, of course: Howser was actively attempting to organize and extort money from Northern California bookmakers, slot machine operators, and other gamblers. Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 291.Brown was a big teddy: Author interview with Daryl Gates, December 10, 2004; McDougal, Privileged Son Privileged Son, p. 194."I had gambling joints: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 146-47.Cohen arrived in Chicago: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 418.
Chapter Two: The "White Spot""Wherein lies the fascination ...": Wright, "Los Angeles-The Chemically Pure," The Smart Set Anthology The Smart Set Anthology, 101.Other cities were based: Findley, "The Economic Boom of the "Twenties in Los Angeles," 252; "The Soul of the City," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1923, 114; Fogelson, The Fragmented Metropolis The Fragmented Metropolis, 80; Davis, "The View from Spring Street: White-Collar Men in the City of Angeles," Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 180. The "white spot" metaphor began innocently, as a description of business conditions in Los Angeles in the early 1920s, but soon took on troubling racial connotations.The historic center of: Percival, "In Our Cathay," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1898, 6. See also AnneMarie Kooistra, "Angels for Sale," 25 and 29 for maps of L.A."s historic tenderloin district, as well as 91, 174-75; Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 89; Woods, "The Progressives and Police," 57; Sitton "Did the Ruling Cla.s.s Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" in Metropolis in the Metropolis in the Making Making, 309.The city also boasted: Hurewitz, Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics, 104; Mann, Behind the Screen Behind the Screen, 89.Congressman Parker"s position: "Col W. H. Parker Called By Death: South Dakota Congressman Pa.s.sed Away Yesterday-Speaker Cannon Expresses Deep Regret," clipping from Deadwood newspaper, William H. Parker Foundation archives.As a child, Bill: The oldest Parker sibling, Catherine Irene, was born on August 29, 1903. Bill was born two years later, on June 21, 1905, followed by Alfred on May 29, 1908; Mary Ann in 1911; and Joseph on April 10, 1918. Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004.As an obviously intelligent: Sjoquist, "The Story of Bill," The Link The Link, 1994; Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 91.In later years, Parker: See "Police Instincts of Bill Parker Flourished Early," Los Angeles Mirror-News Los Angeles Mirror-News, June 18, 1957, for a typical (and improbable) account of this period in Parker"s life.Los Angeles was Deadwood: In 1934, the United States Geographical Board recognized the most popular variant, today"s "Los An-ju-less." Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 26. However, controversies about the proper p.r.o.nunciation lingered into the 1950s. "With a Soft G," Time Time magazine, September 22, 1952. magazine, September 22, 1952.Whatever its p.r.o.nunciation: John Anson Ford, who moved to L.A. in 1920 from Chicago, recounts the wagon trail-like quality of the migration in this description of the journey: "We had not expected to find so many other motorists, equipped very much as we were, all heading for California. On long level stretches of the dirt roadway each day we could see cars ahead and behind us, perhaps half a mile apart. Each car was followed by a long plume of dust. These automobiles, laden with camping equipment, household goods, and the unkempt appearance of both children and adults, made them easily distinguishable from local farmers or city dwellers. An amazingly large segment of the nation was on the move-and that move was to California." Ford, Honest Politics My Theme Honest Politics My Theme, 52-53; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 75; Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 80."The whole Middle West": Garland, Diaries Diaries, 40."If every conceivable trick: there was the: Fogelson, The Fragmented Metropolis The Fragmented Metropolis, 127. See also Tygiel, "Metropolis in the Making," 1-9.The Parkers settled first: "Champion "Ag-inner" of Universe Is Shuler, Belligerent Local Pastor Holds All Records for Attacks Upon Everybody, Everything," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1930, A2; Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 136-39.By 1910, the year: Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 98; Ross, "How Hollywood Became Hollywood," in Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 262.Parker was plankton in: "Plans Submitted for Fine Theater: Picture Palace to Follow Elaborate Spanish Architecture," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1920, V1.The first was Theodosia: "Milestones," Time Time magazine, April 18, 1955. magazine, April 18, 1955.As the movies heated: Dixon, "Problems of a Working Girl: Queer Aspects of Human Nature Exhibited to Quiet and Watchful Theater Workers, Says Love is Catching "Like the Measles," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1919, 112.As chief of police: Parker"s claim to have been born in 1902 rather than 1905 dates to this era, raising the possibility that he lied about his age so that he could claim to be slightly older than Francis. Divorce pet.i.tion, Francette Pomeroy, Oregon City, OR.Despite (or perhaps because of): Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004. It should be noted that my account of Bill"s first marriage comes almost entirely from his wife"s divorce pet.i.tion. Such accounts are invariably one-sided; exaggerating spousal cruelty was a common tactic for achieving a speedy divorce. It should also be remembered that Bill"s response to his wife"s behavior would have struck many men as wholly justified at the time.Any attempt to heist: Reid, Mickey Cohen: Mobster Mickey Cohen: Mobster, 39. See also unpublished notes for Mickey Cohen biography dated February 6, 1959, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Box 7.
Chapter Three: The Combination"The purpose of any political": Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 315, 341.He was born Meyer: There is some confusion about Mickey"s birth date. Cohen himself generally claimed that he was born in 1913; however, his funeral marker says he was born in 1914. Still other evidence points to a 1911 birth date. See Lewis, Hollywood"s Celebrity Gangster Hollywood"s Celebrity Gangster, 1; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 3. Other accounts of Mickey"s life say that his father was a grocer.f.a.n.n.y, Mickey, and sister: Boyle Heights"s Jewish population jumped from 10,000 in 1917 to 43,000 in 1923, making it home to about a third of Los Angeles"s Jewish population. Romo, History of a Barrio History of a Barrio, 65. The current brick Breed Street Shul was finished several years later, in 1923.Mickey soon became a: Clarke and Saldana, "True Life Story of Mickey Cohen," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, July 1949. This is the beginning of a nine-part series on Mickey that is a valuable, though not always reliable, guide to his life. See also "Cohen Began as a Spoiled Brat," the second installment in the series.Mickey"s entree came from: Mickey"s exact age at the time of this incident is somewhat unclear. In Mickey Cohen: Mobster Mickey Cohen: Mobster, Ed Reid says that this occurred when he was seven (37-39). In his autobiography, In My Own Words In My Own Words, Cohen says that this incident occurred when he was nine (5).What followed was a: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, Chapter One.Clearly, Mickey had a: The FBI would later estimate his IQ to be 98. Cohen FBI files.While Mickey started his: The following year Los Angeles would surpa.s.s it-a lead L.A. would maintain until the 1990s. Klein, The History of Forgetting The History of Forgetting, 75. However, Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 73, disputes the belief, widespread at the time, that Los Angeles was suffering a crime wave."The white spot of ...": "The Soul of the City," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1923, 114.By 1922, Harry Chandler: In 1909, progressive reformers had dismantled the old ward system that had allowed Democrats, Catholics, and Jews to be elected to political office in favor of a system that provided for only citywide at-large elections. The result was a city government dominated by Times Times readers-white, middle-cla.s.s Protestant Republicans. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 9. readers-white, middle-cla.s.s Protestant Republicans. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 9.
The Times Times newsroom claimed that Chandler was the eleventh wealthiest man in the world. Gottlieb and Wolt, newsroom claimed that Chandler was the eleventh wealthiest man in the world. Gottlieb and Wolt, Thinking Big Thinking Big, 125; "The White Spot Glistens Brightly," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1921, II; Taylor, "It Costs $1000 to Have Lunch with Harry Chandler," Sat.u.r.day Evening Post Sat.u.r.day Evening Post, December 16, 1939.Now was just such: Sitton, "Did the Ruling Cla.s.s Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" in Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 305.At first, everything went: Fogelson, Fragmented Metropolis Fragmented Metropolis, 219. Los Angeles mayors initially served only two-year terms, hence the high tally.This was embarra.s.sing: Sitton, "The "Boss" Without a Machine: Kent K. Parrot and Los Angeles Politics in the 1920s."By firing Oaks and: Sitton, "The "Boss" Without a Machine: Kent K. Parrot and Los Angeles Politics in the 1920s."Bootlegging had been a profitable: Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 60.At first, much of: Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 130. See also Nathan, "How Whiskey Smugglers Buy and Land Cargoes, Well-Organized Groups Engaged in Desperate Game of Rum-Running," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1926, B5; Rappleye, All-American Mafioso All-American Mafioso, 40; and Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 60. It is not surprising that Nathan neglects to mention Combination figures such as Guy McAfee, who had ties to the Chandler-favored Cryer administration.In the big eastern: Law enforcement was too. Historian Robert Fogelson has argued that people engaged in both professions for similar reasons, notably out of a desire for upward social mobility. According to Fogelson, this is one of the reasons why graft and corruption were so prevalent in urban police departments: Many of the men who staffed them were as interested in getting ahead as the men who were paying them off. See Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police 29, 35. 29, 35.
For more on Crawford, see "Crawford Career Hectic, Politician Gained Wide Notoriety as "Pay-Off Man" in Morris Lavine Extortion Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1931, 2. See also Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 305-6.Crawford got back in: The exact relationship between Crawford and Marco is unclear. While Crawford seems to have kept a hand in prost.i.tution, he was apparently more of a political fixer; Marco, in contrast, was more hands on. Most accounts of the era accord Crawford the position of primacy; however, some describe Marco as the leader of the Combination. Others point to Guy McAfee, "Detective McAfee is Exonerated," Los Angeles Time Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1916, I9.Cornero tried to buy: I say "seemed overt" because in this instance, Farmer"s claim of self-defense was actually quite plausible. Nonetheless, in general it was clear that Farmer enjoyed considerable advantages, including (somewhat later) having his personal attorney on the Police Commission. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 233, 237."Mr. Cryer, how much ...": "Bledsoe Hurls Defy at Cryer, Challenges Parrot"s Status as De-Facto Mayor," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1925."Shall We Re-Elect..." "Shall We Re-Elect Kent Parrot?" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1925, A1.The Times Times publisher was: For a discussion of Parrot"s sway over the LAPD, see "Oaks Names Kent Parrot, Charges Lawyer Interfered in Police Department, "Dictatorial and Threatening,"" publisher was: For a discussion of Parrot"s sway over the LAPD, see "Oaks Names Kent Parrot, Charges Lawyer Interfered in Police Department, "Dictatorial and Threatening,"" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1923, I14; "Dark Trails to City Hall are Uncovered: How Negro Politicians Make and Unmake Police Vice Squad Told in Heath Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1923, and "Kent Parrot Accused by Richards as "Sinister," Retiring Harbor Commissioner Names Him as Would-Be Boss," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1923, Sitton, "The "Boss" Without a Machine," 372-73.In truth, each camp: Sitton, "Did the Ruling Cla.s.s Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" 312. See also Domanick, To Protect and Serve To Protect and Serve, 40-49, for an extended and colorful discussion of James Davis.With a measure of: The arrest of councilman Carl Jacobson was a variant on a common police racket known as the badger game, an extortion racket made possible by the fact that extramarital s.e.x was actually illegal in Los Angeles. The setup was simple: Working with an unmarried female accomplice, the police arranged an a.s.signation, usually at a downtown hotel, and then burst in to make an arrest-unless, that is, they received a payoff. In this instance, however, Councilman Jacob-son boldly refused to go with the usual script. Insisting that he had been framed, he demanded a trial and was acquitted. He later sued Crawford, vice lord Albert Marco, Callie Grimes (the would-be temptress), and five police officers. However, they, too, were acquitted, leaving the question of exactly what happened in Ms. Grimes"s bedroom hopelessly unsettled. "Crawford Career Hectic," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1931, 2. See also Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 252-55.Parker tried to focus: Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 70.Freed of his wife: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 82, 103. Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004.On April 24, 1926: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 102; letter from the Board of Civil Service Commissioners, September 28, 1926, William H. Parker Police Foundation Archives. Note that Police Commission minutes misrecord his name as "William H. Park."
Chapter Four: The Bad Old Good Old Days"[A] smart lawyer can ...": White, Me, Detective Me, Detective, 188; Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 37."The name of this city ...": Fogelson, Fragmented Metropolis Fragmented Metropolis, 26, quoting the diary of the Rev. James L. Woods, November 24, 1854 (at the Huntington Library)."While there are undoubtedly ...": "Committee of Safety Makes Its Report," Los Angeles Herald Los Angeles Herald, November 8, 1900; Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 9.In their defense: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 24.The activities of plainclothes: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 51.In 1902, the LAPD"s: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 25. Reverend Kendall"s Queen of the Red-Lights Queen of the Red-Lights, which is based on Pearl Morton, is an excellent introduction to the genre.The decision to prohibit: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 49.There were moments when: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 71.One night soon after: For one of Parker"s several accounts of this episode, see Dean Jennings, "Portrait of a Police Chief," 84. In the 1930s, Arlington was the reputed bagman for the Combination"s gambling interests.Today the police beat: New York City was something of an exception. There the profusion of publications put reporters in a more supplicatory position. Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 41.Infuriated at the idea: Jacoby, "Highlights in the Life of the Chief of Police," Eight Ball Eight Ball, March 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.""Come along, sister, and..."": Quoted in Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 170-71. That same year, the old police station/stockade was torn down and the new Lincoln Heights Jail was built in its place. Ted Thackrey, "Memories-Lincoln Heights Jail Closing," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, June 27, 1965.Cops sometimes acted violently: White, Me, Detective Me, Detective, 188; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 225.
The existence of "the third degree" was a hotly debated topic at the time. Police chiefs denied its existence. Critics insisted that it was routinely used. To some extent, both sides were talking past each other. Police chiefs defined the "third degree" as torture, critics as coercive pressure. The a.n.a.logy to current-day interrogation tactics for suspected terrorists is very close. See also Wickersham Commission, 146-47; and Hopkins, Lawless Law Enforcement Lawless Law Enforcement.Remarkably, the LAPD was: Carte and Carte, Police Reform in the United States Police Reform in the United States, 60. See also Hopkins, Lawless Law Enforcement Lawless Law Enforcement.Parker told the man: "Why Hoodlums Hate Bill Parker," Readers Digest Readers Digest, March 1960, 239, condensed from National Civic Review National Civic Review (September 1959). (September 1959)."Open the door so ...": Stump, "LA"s Chief Parker."Later that year: Wedding announcement, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1928, 24.The Great Depression intervened: Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 165."Statements from Bill kept ...": Letter from Helen, William H. Parker Police Foundation archive.
Chapter Five: "Jewboy""I wasn"t the worse ...": Cohen ma.n.u.script, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. Mickey would later claim to have fought seventy-nine pro fights, including five against past, present, or future world champions. Cohen biographer Brad Lewis counts a more modest (but still impressive) record of sixty wins (twenty-five by knockout) and sixteen losses. Lewis, Hollywood"s Celebrity Gangster Hollywood"s Celebrity Gangster, 14.As a condition for his: Unpublished Cohen ma.n.u.script, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Mickey was not: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 6-8.Yet despite this youthful: Reid, Mickey Cohen Mickey Cohen, 39-40.Lou Stillman"s gym: Schulberg, The Harder They Fall The Harder They Fall, 90.The men surrounding Mickey: "Lou Stillman, Legendary Boxing Figure, Is Dead," New York Times New York Times obituary, August 20, 1969. The obituary, August 20, 1969. The Times"s Times"s obituary credits the "open sesame to low society" remark to Damon Runyon, suggesting that perhaps Runyon used it first. obituary credits the "open sesame to low society" remark to Damon Runyon, suggesting that perhaps Runyon used it first."A card of membership ...": Johnston, "The Cauliflower King-I," The New The New Yorker Yorker, April 8, 1933, 24.Moreover, he wasn"t making: Establishing with any precision when Mickey returned to Cleveland is difficult. Ben Hecht writes that Mickey returned in 1932/3, which would make any meeting with Al Capone himself unlikely, given Capone"s 1931 conviction for income tax evasion. However, a doc.u.ment in the Newberry Library"s Hecht Papers that was apparently prepared by Mickey himself says he returned to Cleveland at age seventeen, which would have been the year 1930.Unlike New York City: Moe Dalitz had established important relations with the various Italian gangs that held sway over different parts of Cleveland, but he had not yet made Cleveland his primary base of operations.Great Depression or no: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 15-16.Cohen"s job in Chicago: Ben Hecht presents a somewhat different account of this incident, saying that Mickey was given a "louse book" to operate, one that catered to ten-and twenty-cent horse bettors, on the North Side. Quoting Cohen, Hecht writes, "The first thing I know a Chicago tough guy calls on me where I"m running my little louse book and says he has been engaged for twenty dollars to put the muscle on me. I don"t ask who engaged him but I said, "I"m going to give you a chance to prove you"re a tough guy." And I pulled my gun. In that time I would of felt undressed if I wasn"t carryin" a gun. The tough guy ran behind a door and I blasted him through the door which is the last I saw of him.""After that meeting,...": Reid also claims that Mickey didn"t arrive in Chicago until well after Al Capone"s 1931 arrest. However, the volume and detail of Cohen"s recollections from this period make it doubtful that his Chicago recollections were entirely fabricated.
Chapter Six: Comrade Bill"With few exceptions": Wickersham Commission, Nos. 1-14, 43.Hollywood was Los Angeles"s fast: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 88, quoting Bob Shuler"s Magazine Bob Shuler"s Magazine."Listen, you stupid f.u.c.k,": Jennings, "Portrait of a Police Chief," 87.Despite such obstinacy: In 1930, the written examination accounted for 95 percent of officers" scores, with marksmanship and seniority accounting for the remaining 5 percent. Memorandum to the general manager civil service, "Subject: Facts on Chief Parker"s Exam Records," June 1, 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. This memo provides a comprehensive overview of Parker"s history in the department."Take him someplace and ...": Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 85."I got out,": Stump, "L.A."s Chief Parker."By 1929, Los Angeles: One of the more startling features of this era is the widespread acceptance of the Klan, which permeated 1920s Los Angeles. Throughout this period, the Police Commission, which was responsible for regulating a wide variety of public events, routinely approved a regular Sat.u.r.day night Ku Klux Klan dance on Santa Monica Boulevard. Palmer, "Porter or Bonelli for City"s Next Mayor," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1929, B1.To block the Klansman: Sitton, John Randolph Haynes John Randolph Haynes, 218. Parrot retired to Santa Barbara and effectively withdrew from politics. In the mid-1930s, the Los Angeles papers would attempt to resurrect the specter of Parrot; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 311.That the LAPD: In 1919, the Boston police department became the first police force to attempt to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor. When officers went on strike, a week of chaotic looting and rioting ensued. Ma.s.sachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge called in the National Guard to secure the city. Coolidge then dismissed the eleven hundred officers who had walked off their jobs, a show of resolution that paved the way to his successful run for the White House. Afterward, Boston hired a new police department and granted its officers almost all of the benefits the strikers had originally demanded.The issue that drew: In 1931, the Fire and Police Protective League tried again and was able to persuade the electorate to amend the charter to specify that officers could only be dismissed for "good cause." It also gave officers accused of misdeeds a chance to appear before a board of inquiry consisting of three captains, randomly chosen. Again, the practical results were disappointing. Captains were not exactly eager to challenge the chief or his superiors. Town Hall, "A Study of the Los Angeles City Charter," 116-17, 108-109.In 1934, Parker got: Leadership of the union was divided evenly between the police department, which named two police representatives, a sergeant representative, a lieutenant representative, and a captain or higher representative to the organization"s board, and the fire department, which named two firemen, an engineer, a captain, and a chief representative to the board. These elections were not exactly democratic exercises. According to former Deputy Chief Harold Sullivan, the lieutenants exercised great control over police activities on the board, which makes Parker"s election all the more mysterious. Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 7, 2007, Los Angeles, CA.In the summer of 1934: See City Council Minutes, August 14, 1934, pp. 234-35.The city council seems: City Council Meetings, vol. 248, August 14, 1934, pp. 235-36; City Council Minutes, August 15, 1934, p. 269, for the final text of Amendment No. 12-A. The city council also debated an amendment to abolish the Police Commission that day. It narrowly lost.The public was not: Carte and Carte, Police Reform in the United States Police Reform in the United States, 105.Some observers did pick: City Council Minutes, vol. 249 (October 5, 1934), 18. The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times misreports the vote count as 83,521 ayes to 83,244 nayes. "Complete Vote Received for Thursday"s Election," misreports the vote count as 83,521 ayes to 83,244 nayes. "Complete Vote Received for Thursday"s Election," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1934, 5.
For further discussions of Section 202, see also Escobar, "b.l.o.o.d.y Christmas," 176-77.Union activism is not: Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 22-23. The quote comes from the Harold Story Papers, Special Collections, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.Even at the time: Nathan, ""Rousting" System Earns Curses of the Rum-Runners, Chief Davis"s Raids Keep Whiskey Ring in Harried State," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1926, B6.Nor were regular citizens: LAPD officers were deputized by the counties in question and thus authorized to make arrests. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 342; Ba.s.s and Donovan, "The Los Angeles Police Department" in The Development of Los Angeles City Government: An Inst.i.tutional History, 1850-2000 The Development of Los Angeles City Government: An Inst.i.tutional History, 1850-2000, 154."It is an axiom with ...": Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 53; Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 50. Both may well be quoting Gerald Woods, who in turn is almost certainly quoting an unidentified article in the L.A. Record L.A. Record.But as implausible as: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 322, 259.In 1934, Chief Davis: See "Facts on Chief Parker"s Exam Records," a.s.sistant General Manager Civil Service, June 1, 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives, Los Angeles, CA.Then, suddenly, his career: See Deputy Chief B. R. Caldwell"s letter to HQ, Los Angeles Procurement District, February 23, 1943, for a detailed (if occasionally opaque) discussion of Parker"s career from 1933 through 1943. William H. Parker Police Foundation, Los Angeles, CA. See also Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 28.In 1933, voters had: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 316-17; Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 12-13.During the 1920s, Kent: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," provides an excellent account of McAfee"s activities throughout the 1930s. See also the October 9, 1953, FBI memo on Jack Dragna (Dragna FBI file 94-250); Weinstock, My L.A. My L.A., 56; and Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 335.The key to it all: Donner, The Age of Surveillance The Age of Surveillance, 59-64.
Chapter Seven: Bugsy"Booze barons;" "Are Gangsters Building Another Chicago Here?" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 29,1931, A1.By 1937, Bugsy Siegel: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 29-31. Readers interested in a more sober a.s.sessment of Siegel should consult Robert Lacey"s Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life.Siegel first visited Los Angeles: In addition to appearing as a dancer in vaudeville shows and on Broadway, Raft was also a regular presence at Jimmy Durante"s Club Durante and at Texas Guinan"s El Fey. This did not mean that Raft himself was in any way fey. In addition to being a sometime prizefighter, he was a close a.s.sociate of Manhattan beer king Owney Madden. Such tough guy-s...o...b..z connections were quite common in the 1920s. Bootlegger Waxey Gordon was an enthusiastic backer of such Broadway musicals as Strike Me Pink Strike Me Pink, even going so far as to order his gunmen to turn out in tuxedos for opening night. (Wisely, he also had them check their guns at the coat check.) Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 159.He was receptive: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 160-64, discusses Siegel"s post-Prohibition quasilegitmacy (and stock market troubles). See also Lacey, Little Man Little Man, 68, 79-80.Siegel"s lifestyle reflected his: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 27, 30."Caution, fathered by the ...": Muir