As Charlie Beck gets ready to retire, a look at LAPD chiefs who came before
After nine years as LA’s top cop, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has announced he’ll retire later this year. Beck will leave a 10,000 officer force with a simple…
Tag: lapd
Homeless sweeps leave some with nothing
Pamela Ferguson has lived on a quiet cul-de-sac near the Staples Center downtown for about a year and a half. Along with her four dogs, she lives in a…
Why map incarceration in LA?
KCRW’s Off the Block began in Westmont, a small Los Angeles neighborhood that has seen hundreds of arrests over the past five years according to a map developed by UCLA researchers…
In LAPD shootings police, community tell two different stories
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck defended his officers’ use of deadly force on Monday against two men in separate confrontations over the weekend. “While holding a handgun in his left hand –…
Mixer: Which Way, LA?
KCRW’s Warren Olney moderated KCRW’s Which Way LA? for 23 years before wrapping up the program on January 28. But he’s not going away. He will continue to host To the Point,…
LAPD rank-and-file rankled by Chief Beck’s candor
L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck is defending his decision to recommend criminal charges against an officer involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed homeless man in Venice. Since going…
Tasers 101
Tasers have been widely adopted by law enforcement agencies across the country. More than 80 percent of police departments in the United States authorize the use of what are officially…
Bailing on high-speed chases: A safer change of pace?
There was a highly unusual ending to a televised car chase in L.A. County yesterday…police let the driver get away. The chase began in Altadena around 5 p.m. and ended…
Mixer: LAPD focuses on South LA
The Los Angeles Police Department says it’ll send dozens of elite officers into South LA in response to an increase in crime and reported gang violence. August saw a big…
Inside LAPD’s body camera contract with Taser International
The Los Angeles Police Department is rolling out the first of 860 body cameras for its officers, part of a plan that will eventually have some 7,000 officers routinely wearing…
Body cams? Yes, but the public wants to see the video
Police body cameras are coming to a city near you. For starters, the LAPD plans to roll out more than 800 of the devices next week as part of a…
Watts: Chief Parker’s legacy
This week on Press Play, we’re using the 50th anniversary of the Watts Riots to talk about what has changed in the South L.A. community, and what has stayed the…
Watts: Policing South LA 50 years after the riots
This week on Press Play, we’re using the 50th anniversary of the Watts Riots to talk about what has changed in the South L.A. community, and what has stayed the…
What are your reflections on the Watts Riots, 50 years later?
We want to hear from you for an upcoming series on KCRW’s Press Play.
Making LA: Policing
The LAPD has gotten a lot of praise for reducing crime and improving relations with minority communities. But violent crime is actually up this year (homicides are down). The national conversation…
Mixer: Police go on the defense in Venice
Emotions ran high at a town hall meeting inside a Venice elementary school auditorium Thursday. Those gathered were concerned, and in many cases, irate, about this week’s killing of an unarmed…
Police blasted over Venice shooting
Police and city officials met Thursday night with residents and activists in a standing-room-only town hall, two days after police fatally shot an unarmed homeless man near the Venice boardwalk. Emotions…
Mixer: The force in law enforcement
There’s no doubt, police officers are in a dangerous business. Their lives can be put in peril when they hit the streets of cities and towns across America. But, given some very…
It’s no day in the park for tailgating Dodgers fans
The Dodgers season got off on the right foot as they staged a late comeback to beat the San Diego Padres at Chavez Ravine. But the experience wasn’t so pleasing…
Mixer: The year of the microscope…on police
Federal prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty in the case of the LAX shooter. 24-year old Paul Ciancia is accused of opening fire inside Terminal 3 of Los Angeles…