Blue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American Policing (72 page)

Bill Bratton, August 2009, Parker Center

“a slap in the face of the department”
: “Bratton Says LAPD Is Improved, Wants Consent Decree Lifted,” KPCC 89.3, June 24, 2009.

“never wanted to go and just maintain something”
: “Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to Step Down,”
LAT
, August 5, 2009.

“serious crime” had dropped by almost 35 percent
: Stone et al.,
Policing Los Angeles Under a Consent Decree
, 6.

30 percent drop in officer-involved shootings
: Ibid., 33.

LAPD treated “all racial and ethnic groups fairly” . . . risen from 39 to 51 percent
: Ibid., 49.

pedestrian and vehicle stops had risen by almost 50 percent
: Ibid., 22.

“saw a lot of force displayed”
: Ibid., 37–38.

“we’re talking about a department”
: “LAPD Improves Its Image,”
LAT
, May 19, 2009.

Charlie Beck walked a beat in Jordan Downs
: Charlie Beck interview.

Pat Gannon, Ron Noblet, and Alfred Lomas, December 2010, Magnolia Place Community Center

Ron Noblet . . . half-Mexican-American, half-Eastern-European
: Ron Noblet interview.

ex-marine
: Ibid.

native son of Los Angeles
: Ibid.

Slavic studies major at USC
: Ibid.; Connie Rice interview.

alcoholic father
: Ron Noblet interview.

terrible beatings
: Ibid.

“You don’t know me, but you need me”
: Connie Rice interview.

“Ron was very important”
: Ibid.

“they help stop the next killing”
: Ron Noblet interview.

Alfred Lomas . . . Looking like a lawyer late for court
: Author’s observations.

the Dream Center
: “Gang Interventionists Distribute Food, Prayer—and a Sense of Change.”

Olvera asked for a favor
: Alfred Lomas interview.

“keep everybody calm and all the rumors from spreading”
: Ibid.

“the kid had died of an aneurysm”
: Ibid.

“Al was a generation behind in age”
: Ron Noblet interview.

“They don’t like hypocrisy”
: Ibid.

Three times
: Alfred Lomas interview.

Claiming to have suspicious surveillance pictures of Lomas
: Ibid.

“who was real and who wasn’t”
: Ibid.

to do something other than being just a hard-nosed gang cop
: Curtis Woodle interview.

Woodle had chosen a local middle school
: Ibid.

“And Curtis . . . very good at figuring out how to do that”
: Charlie Beck interview.

“He is the real deal”
: Connie Rice interview.

“This year, right now”
: Patrick Gannon interview.

“you begin to change the physics of the neighborhood”
: “Addicted to Guns,”
Chicago Reader
, May 8, 2013.

homicides by 2013 would drop to 250
: “Valley Sees Major Drop in Homicides,”
LAT
, December 31, 2013.

2010 would end with under 300 homicides
: “Killing in L.A. Drops to 1967 Levels,”
LAT
, December 26, 2010.

marijuana became an infraction
: “Marijuana Possession in California Reduced to an Infraction,” AP, December 1, 2010.

“running a fatherhood project”
: Ron Noblet interview.

“She’s the first person in her family to go to college”
: Ibid.

Daryl Gates and Charlie Beck, April 2010, San Clemente, California

Daryl Gates . . . panoramic view
: Charlie Beck interview.

hilltop condominium in San Clemente
: Ibid.

cancer
: “Controversial LAPD Chief,”
LAT
, April 17, 2010; “Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates Battling Bladder Cancer,”
LAT
, February 16, 2010.

startled by how frail he looked
: Charlie Beck interview.

open-at-the-collar LAPD blues
: Ibid.

“I feel I can go now”
: Ibid.

Beck . . . “top goal”
: “L.A. City Council Panel Confirms Charlie Beck as Police Chief,”
LAT
, November 10, 2009.

an LAPD helicopter appeared against the blue waters
: Charlie Beck interview.

Daryl Francis Gates . . . snapped off his final salute
: Ibid.

EPILOGUE: 2014

Eric Garner . . . “I can’t breathe”
: “Relatives, Friends Say Goodbye to Eric Garner, Who Died After NYPD Cop Put Him in Chokehold, at Brooklyn Funeral,”
NYDN
, July 23, 2014; “Man’s Death After Chokehold Raises Old Issue for the Police,”
NYT
, July 18, 2014; “From ‘Chokehold’ Death to No Indictment: A Timeline of Events Since Eric Garner’s Death,”
NYDN
, December 3, 2014.

shooting death of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown
: “Grief and Protests Follow Shooting of a Teenager,”
NYT
, August 10, 2014; “After Unarmed Teen Michael Brown Is Killed, the St. Louis-Dispatch Front Page Captures Ferguson Burning,”
Washington Post
, August 22, 2014; “Michael Brown’s Shooting and Its Immediate Aftermath in Ferguson,”
NYT
, August 25, 2014; “Official Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Had Close-Range Wound to His Hand, Marijuana in His System,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, October 28, 2014; “Timeline: Michael Brown Shooting in Ferguson, Mo.,”
USA Today
, December 2, 2014; “Federal Autopsy Released in Michael Brown Shooting—Conclusions Seen Similar to Local, Private Examiner’s,” AP, December 9, 2014.

protesters’ popular rallying cry of “I Can’t Breathe”
: “ ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Is Echoed in Voices of Fury and Despair,”
NYT
, December 3, 2014; “ ‘I Can’t Breathe’: Why Eric Garner Protests Are Gaining Momentum,” Reuters, December 5, 2014; “ ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Protests Hit Fifth Day,” NBC News, December 7, 2014.

“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”
: “Protestors Use Hands-Up Gesture Defiantly After Michael Brown Shooting,”
LAT
, August 12, 2014; “The ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Gesture from Ferguson Moves to Hong Kong,” PRI, September 30, 2014; “ ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Could Start a Real Revolution,”
Time
, December 4, 2014; “Pharrell’s Grammy Performance Includes ‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot’ Tribute,”
Huffington Post
, September 2, 2015.

“Black Lives Matter”
: “ ‘I Can’t Breathe’: Why Eric Garner Protests Are Gaining Momentum”; “Chanting ‘Black Lives Matter,’ Protestors Shut Down Part of Mall of America,” AP, December 20, 2014.

Beck . . . Community Safety Partnership Police
: “Op-Ed: Reappoint Charlie Beck as Police Chief,”
LAT
, August 11, 2014; “What Police Departments Can Learn About Race Relations from the LAPD,” Yahoo News, December 21, 2014.

driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants
: “Beck Backs Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants,”
LAT
, February 23, 2012; “Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants? LAPD Chief Charlie Becks Says Yes,”
Huffington Post
, February 23, 2012; “LAPD Chief Says Illegal Immigrants Should Get Driver’s Licenses,” NPR, January 23, 2012.

Charlie Beck/stopped impounding cars/license-less immigrants
: “With Illegal Immigrants in Mind, LAPD to Change Impound Rules,”
LAT
, December 14, 2011; “Newton: LAPD’s Impound Dilemma,”
LAT
, January 30, 2012; “LAPD’s Vehicle Impound Reforms Put on Hold,”
LAT
, February 15, 2012.

“forty-six permanent gang injunctions in place in the city of Los Angeles”
: “Gang Injunctions,” Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, accessed April 26, 2015,
http://www.atty.lacity.org/CRIMINAL/GangInjunctions/index.htm
.

605 officer-involved homicides in all of L.A. County
: “The Homicide Report,”
LAT
, accessed on April 26, 2015,
http://homicide.latimes.com/cause/gunshot/officer_involved/true/year/all
.

228 deaths, were at the hands of LAPD officers
: “The Homicide Report.”

NYPD . . . had killed “at least 179 people”
: “Exclusive: In 179 Fatalities Involving On-Duty NYPD Cops in 15 Years, Only 3 Cases Led to Indictments—and Just 1 Conviction,”
NYDN
, December 8, 2014.

“at least 1,800 police killings in those 105 departments”
: “WSJ Analysis: Justifiable Homicides by U.S. Law Enforcement,”
WSJ
, December 2, 2014; “Hundreds of Police Killings Are Uncounted in Federal Stats,”
WSJ
, December 3, 2014.

LAPD had misclassified nearly twelve hundred violent felonies
: “LAPD Misclassified Nearly 1,200 Violent Crimes as Minor Offenses,”
LAT
, August 9, 2014; “Inaccurate LAPD Crime Statistics Prompt Larger Investigation,”
LAT
, August 11, 2014.

“hundreds of stabbings, beatings, and robberies”
: “LAPD Misclassified Nearly 1,200 Violent Crimes as Minor Offenses.”

“total aggravated assaults . . . 14 percent higher than the official figure”
: Ibid.

“turned serious crime[s] into minor one[s]”
: Ibid.

Los Angeles Police Commission voted 4–1 to rehire him
: “LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Appointed to Second Term in 4–1 Police Commission Vote,”
LAT
, August 12, 2014; “LAPD Chief Beck Appointed to a Second Term on 4–1 Vote,”
Whittier Daily News
, August 12, 2014; “LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Gets Another 5 Years,”
LA Weekly
, August 12, 2014, accessed March 23, 2015,
http://www.laweekly.com/news/lapd-chief-charlie-beck-gets-another-5-years-5002797
.

Beck released a major reform plan
: “LAPD Announces Reforms to Boost Accuracy of City Crime Statistics,”
LAT
, December 16, 2014; “Violent Crime Rose 14.3% in L.A.; Officials Vow Action,”
LAT
, January 12, 2015; “L.A. Violent Crime Rises for the First Time in 12 Years, LAPD Says,”
LAT
, December 30, 2014.

An investigation by the department’s inspector general
: “Inaccurate LAPD Crime Statistics Prompt Larger Investigation”; “Inspector General to Investigate LAPD Crime Stats,”
LA Observed
, August 11, 2014.