Los Angeles Police Department

Los Angeles Police Department - LAPD -
State level	State of California
legal form	authority
Headquarters	City of Los Angeles
Employee	12,857 (2017)
Website	http://www.lapdonline.org/

The LAPD headquarters in the New Parker Center in Downtown since October 2009.

The Los Angeles Police Department ( LAPD ) is the law enforcement agency of the City of Los Angeles and the third largest municipal security agency in the United States after the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department . In accordance with his motto “to protect and to serve”, his tasks are to defend against dangers and to prosecute criminal offenses . The department serves as a template for numerous crime films, television programs and novels. Throughout its history it has been the target of accusations including abuse of authority, corruption and racism.

history

LAPD headquarters at Parker Center from 1954 to 2009 (photo taken in 1976)

Los Angeles Police Department official vehicle

The city's first police force, the Los Angeles Volunteer Rangers , was established in 1853. In 1869, the professional police force was created, which originally consisted of six law enforcement officers under the direction of William C. Warren . In 1900 there were already 70 law enforcement officers.

Throughout history, the LAPD has always distinguished itself by breaking new ground. For example, the LAPD hired the first woman in the US police force. The LAPD also had the first police service dog squadron (K9) in the USA. The significant increase in crime in which firearms were used, as well as the increase in gang crime , also led to the development of the SWAT deployment concept in the LAPD and, in 1967, to the establishment of the first SWAT special unit in the USA.

During the 1932 Summer Olympics , the police shooting range in the Elysian Park district served as a venue for shooting competitions and modern pentathlon .

organization

The agency employs around 9,843 law enforcement officers and around 2,773 civilian employees . There are 21 police stations that look after an area of ​​1290 km² with around 4 million inhabitants. These 21 departments are:

01 Central Area 02 Rampart Area 03 Southwest Area 04 Hollenbeck Area 05 Harbor Area

06 Hollywood Area 07 Wilshire Area 08 West Los Angeles Area 09 Van Nuys Area 10 West Valley Area

11 Northeast Area 12 77th Street Area 13 Newton Area 14 Pacific Area 15 North Hollywood Area

16 Foothill Area 17 Devonshire Area 18 Southeast Area 19 Mission Area 20 Olympic Area 21 Topanga Area

Michel Moore has headed the agency since June 2018 . He succeeds Charles L. Beck , who served as Chief of Police (COP) from 2009 to 2018.

Ranks

Police badge of the LAPD

The LAPD has the following ranks:

• High service :

designation	badge	Promotion / Appointment
Chief of Police		The necessary requirements are a university degree and 12 years of service in the police force. The Chief of Police is appointed by the Mayor and must be approved by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners in a simple majority vote.
Assistant Chief or Police Deputy Chief II
Police Deputy Chief I.
Police Commander		Promotion to Police Deputy Chief I possible after one year of service .
Police Captain III Police Captain II Police Captain I		Transport possible after successful completion of the respective trial periods.
Police Lieutenant II Police Lieutenant I.

Police Officers (patrol duty)	badge	Detectives ( criminal investigation department )	badge	promotion
Police Sergeant II		Police Detective III		After two years of service as a sergeant or detective, promotion to Police Lieutenant I is possible.
Police Sergeant I.		Police Detective II		Promotion after an interview before a commission or a corresponding positive assessment by the department.
		Police Detective I.

• Middle service :

Police Officers (patrol duty)	badge	promotion
Police Officer III		Promotion to Police Sergeant / Detective I possible after one year of service as Police Officer III.
Police Officer II	No badges	Promotion to Police Officer III possible after three years of service as Police Officer II.
Police Officer I.		Automatic promotion to Police Officer II after 18 months of probationary service (6 months of theoretical training and 12 months of internship on patrol duty).

Departments

The LAPD has the following departments

• Traffic department, responsible for car accidents, hit-and-run
• Burglary Department, responsible for thefts, break-ins, armed robbery
• Morals Department, responsible for sexual offenses, prostitution
• Fire investigation, responsible for fires with suspected intent

Special departments

• K-9 : Dog Relay
• Explorer : Bomb Disposal
• Homicide : Homicide Squad
• SWAT : Special Task Force
• Volunteer : Volunteer Police (Reserve)

equipment

Officials of the LAPD are equipped with guns of the company Beretta , Glock and Smith & Wesson in the calibers mm 9 x 19 , .40 S & W and .45 ACP provided that officials can choose between the following weapons:

Two LAPD officers, one armed with a carbine.

A Bell 206 of the LAPD

• Beretta 92 in the variants 92F, 92FS, 92FS-Stainless Steel, 8045 (4 "barrel)
• Smith & Wesson :
  • 9 × 19 mm: 459, 5904, 5903, 659, 5906, 645 etc.
  • .45 ACP: 4506, 4566, 4516, 4567
• Glock :
  • 9 × 19 mm: model 34, model 17 , model 19
  • .40 S&W: Model 35 , Model 22, Model 23
  • .45 ACP: Model 21, 21SF

In addition, the following rifles can be carried if required:

• Colt AR-15 Tactical Carbine : semi-automatic carbine based on the M16 assault rifle from Colt Defense .
• Smith & Wesson M & P15 : Variant of the Colt AR-15 carbine from Smith & Wesson .

The Ford Crown Victoria ( Police Interceptor variant ) and Chevrolet Impala are primarily used as patrol vehicles .

The police badge 714

The police badge with the service number 714 was for years the symbol of the US television series LA Dragnet (German title: Police report Los Angeles ). The investigative protagonist "Joe Friday" of the LAPD wore this stamp. The brand was actually in use until the 1990s, but due to its popularity, the brand was often stolen and is no longer given.

Honor

On March 10, 2006, the LAPD received its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Seven police officers were immortalized by name on the star who had died on duty:

The star of the LAPD on the Walk of Fame

Surname	date	Cause of death
Clyde Pritchett	02/17/1936	Exchange of fire
Clay N. Hunt	02/22/1955	car accident
Ian J. Campbell	03/09/1963	murdered after kidnapping
Robert J. Cote	07/31/1969	Exchange of fire
Joe Rios	01/20/1993	Bicycle accident
Charles Dean home	10/22/1994	Exchange of fire
Russell Lee Kuster	10/09/1990	Exchange of fire

So far 210 officers (206 men, 4 women) of the LAPD have died on duty, 106 of them from firearms.

criticism

Up to the present day there are regular accusations of racism against the LAPD. Outstanding events in recent history are, for example, the disproportionate police brutality by four law enforcement officers against Rodney King . Followed by an acquittal, this led to serious riots in Los Angeles in 1992 , in the course of which 53 people died. The 1994 trial of OJ Simpson also led to renewed allegations, as Mark Fuhrman, one of the investigating officers at the time, was repeatedly racist (he referred to dark-skinned people as " niggers ") and reported on operations in which dark-skinned people were deliberately mistreated . In addition to racism, the corruption and abuse of authority that prevail in many parts of the agency are also criticized.

Individual evidence

1. ^ SWAT - special weapons and tactics. In: lapdonline.org. The Los Angeles Police Department, accessed on July 20, 2008 (English): "Since 1967, the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Weapons And Tactics Team (SWAT) has provided a ready response to situations that were beyond the capabilities of normally equipped and trained Department personnel. Since its inception, LAPD SWAT Team members have affected the safe rescue of numerous hostages, arrested scores of violent suspects and earned hundreds of commendations and citations, including several Medals of Valor, the Department's highest award for heroism in the line of duty. " 
2. ^ John Gregory, bio, about: Michel Moore sworn in as new LAPD chief . In: ABC7 Los Angeles . June 28, 2018 ( abc7.com [accessed June 29, 2018]).
3. ^ The LAPD Career Ladder. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 23, 2011 ; accessed on January 12, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ http://www.lapdonline.org/lapd_equipment
5. ↑ Description and technical data on the Colt Defense website.
6. ↑ https://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/6/6012/5.html

Web links

Commons : Los Angeles Police Department  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the LAPD (English)
• Colored advertising film for the LAPD, approx. 1957, length approx. 11 min, on youtube.com