Talk:Los Angeles Police Department

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
This article is part of WikiProject Southern California, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Southern California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page to join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
This article lacks sufficient references and/or adequate inline citations.
B This article has been rated as B-Class on the quality scale.
Mid This article has been rated as mid-importance on the importance scale.

Contents

[edit] List of firsts

Something needs to be done about the list of "firsts" which looks like propaganda directly from a recruiting brochure. Examples:

"the first proactive Police Department." The definintion of "proactive police department" is so open to dispute as to be meaningless. This could arguably apply to any organization from the Bow Street Runners on, depending on what "proactive" meant at the time.

"the first law enforcement agency to outlaw gambling and prostitution." Law enforcement agencies don't outlaw anything - they enforce laws. Even so, there have been anti-gambling laws and "morals" laws in this country since the Mayflower Landing.

"most modern police tactics and tools were first tested or designed by the LAPD." Also so open to dispute it is meaningless. Is foot patrol a "modern police tool"? It is certainly emphasized in modern community policing doctrines, but foot patrols date back to the beginnings of policing.

"they have been called the best dressed police department." Also meaningless. Who called them that? Why is their uniform dress unique? And what possible policing significance does it have?

I though about simple deleting these, but I thought some-one more familiar with LAPD history could better revise the list to contribute to the article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.5.180.230 (talk • contribs).

That's a good point. I'm moving the list here so that we can find sources for it. -Will Beback 01:11, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced list

  • Also the First U.S. African American police officer was a Los Angeles police officer.
  • The LAPD were the first Police Department to use helicopters. LAPD also boasts the largest rooftop helipad and the largest municipal police air support operation.
  • the first to have a Special Weapons And Tactics team.
  • the first to have a VICE unit and an anti-gang unit.
  • the first proactive Police Department.
  • the first law enforcement agency to outlaw gambling and prostitution.
  • with the School District Police they formed an Int'l anti-drug program named the DARE program.
  • had the first vehicle two-way police radio.
  • are the basis in which most of law enforcement agencies in California design a badge, police car, uniform, or anything after.
  • most modern police tactics and tools were first tested or designed by the LAPD.
  • they have been called the best dressed police department.
  • The world famous Los Angeles Police Academy at Elysian Park, near Dodger Stadium, has a sign at the entrance proclaiming "Only the world's finest police officers may pass through these steps."
  • They have the first and only round the clock surveillance and deterrence for hardened and repeat felonly convicted criminals with the sole purpose of discrete suppression of gratuitous violence and mayhem utilized by a sub-group of detectives working under official departmental policy. The LAPD's Special Investigations Section [SIS] (radio call sign 5-King-90) was established in 1967 and continues to operate today as a last-stop checkpoint for unruly, repeat felony offending criminals in Los Angeles. Although plagued by controversial shootings and repeated criticism by the public, the SIS continue to serve as a discreet security blanket against the most hardened of criminals in LA County. With an operating force of about 20-30 detectives (all rumored to be picked out from Robbery-Homicide Bureaus throughout the city and within the Metropolitan Division) headquartered out of the Metropolitan Division's Parker Center, there is still much unknown about the activities of these officers despite how the media fictionally portrays them.

[edit] Books / Novels

Categories seem redundant. Merge the two? -Roy Laurie

I think it's worthwhile separating the fiction from the non-fiction. -Will Beback 22:54, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
Fair enough. I'll move the two fiction books accordingly. --Roy Laurie 07:08, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps they should be labeled "Fiction" and "Non-fiction" then, to make it a bit clearer? -Russia Moore 01:20, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Move the lists of books, movies, etc. to a separate list page.

These lists could go on forever.

Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 03:19, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Yea, i argee, go ahead. As they are making more films about the LAPD - the films don't really need to be included in this article about the LAPD do they? Unless the LAPD actually make a film about themselfs.

Dep. Garcia 22:28, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Move police chiefs list to a separate page?

I would like to move the list of police chiefs to a separate page. What does everybody think?

Sincerely, GeorgeLouis 06:49, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Arrest techiques

Please view this video to see how to assist in an arrest by punching the arrestee in the face while your partner helps hold him still: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=5xF7zejCaRc Video link to youtube.com]. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.222.44.151 (talk • contribs).

[edit] LAPD police brutality section and police brutality links discussion

Currently, the only 'discussion' is going on in the edit summaries. If this Edit war continues, it is likely that the article will be temporarily protected. To prevent that, the editors involved in the dispute should discuss things here on the talk page.

When I looked at the links that were recently readded, I noticed that at least one of them absolutely should not be in the article because it is about the UCLA police department and not the LAPD. Another of the links [1] is a VERY uninformative blog entry with some confusing pictures. It's worthless as a link for this article. The rest of them currently do not support any text in the article and therefore are also useless at references.

If you want something in the article about the very long history of police brutality from the LAPD, WRITE IT UP. Don't just dump a rather random bunch of links into the article that won't help the reader of this encyclopedia article. BlankVerse 13:21, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Improving the LAPD article

As the article is currently written, it is in need of a good weed whacking. For example, there is much in the article that basically repeats what is on the LAPD website, such as the "LAPD organization" section, as well as the info on "ranks" in the force composition section. That information should be deleted. (see WP:NOT for the reasons.)

There are other large sections that I think should be offloaded to their own 'daughter' articles, such as the Radio section moved to Radio use by the Los Angeles Police Department. The large "LAPD in the media" should also get its own article, as well as moving "LAPD Chiefs of Police" to List of Los Angeles Police Department Chiefs of Police.

The huge History section needs to be divided into subsection divided by eras (mostly by Police Chiefs), and the gang enforcement description should be moved to its own section.

Does anyone else have any suggestions, or any comments on my suggestions. BlankVerse 13:21, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Missing information

There is nothing in the article on any of the LAPD's

What else is the article missing? BlankVerse 14:17, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/o/s/Talk%7ELos_Angeles_Police_Department_229d.html"