The Los Angeles Police Department Essay

Introduction

Los Angeles Police Department is the police department for the city of Los Angeles. It aims at providing services of law enforcement at high standards. The objectives focus on reduction of traffic collisions and crime. The main aim of the department is improvement of the lives of the people. This presentation focuses on this department in terms of its creation, organizational design chart, history, current resources, current issues, future challenges and the conclusion.

Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Los Angeles Police Department to safeguard the lives and property of the people we serve, to reduce the incidence and fear of crime, and to enhance public safety while working with the diverse communities to improve their quality of life. Our mandate is to do so with honor and integrity, while at all times conducting ourselves with the highest ethical standards to maintain public confidence (LAPD, 2010).

Creation

• Los Angeles police department is a governmental agency formed in 1869.
• Its motto is to protect and serve.
• It is governed by the city council of Los Angeles. It is engaged of local civilian police who deal with law enforcement.
• It has six bureaus and 21 divisions.
• It has a police commissioners’ board that checks the management and operations of the department while being involved in setting the policies of the department.
• The bureaus include: west, south, valley, central, special operations and detective.
• The divisions are: traffic, field services, narcotics, juvenile, detective support, jail, scientific investigations, commercial crimes, homicides, emergency services, major crimes, special operations, air support, metropolitan among others (LAPD, 2010).
• The west bureau has operations in the Los Angeles well known areas such as Venice, Hollywood, UCLA campus and Hollywood hills. It does not cover Beverly Hills & Santa Monica.
• The detective bureau investigates crime while reporting directly to the chief of police (Corwin, 2004).
• The special operations bureau provides resources that are specialized to support occurrences that are unusual, operations of daily activities and during terrorism and disturbances.
• The central bureau is the most densely populated and is responsible for the east and downtown Los Angeles. It has traffic division that deals with accident investigation & issues of citations and tickets, and patrol divisions (LAPD, 2010).
• The south bureau with exceptions of Compton & Inglewood, oversees the south area of Los Angeles with a traffic and four patrol divisions.
• The valley bureau being the largest, has operations in the San Fernando valley.

Organizational Design Chart

History

• The police force for Los Angeles was founded in 1853.
• It was made up of groups whose service was based on volunteerism. They were characterized with inefficiency due to vices, violence and gambling (Domanick, 2003).
• In 1869, a force that was paid was created with six officers under police commissioners board.
• For every 1500 people there were 70 officers in the 1900. This increased to 200 soldiers with the initiation of the civil service in 1903.

History of World Wars and LAPD

• Organization of the force into special home guards embarked during the First World War due to their involvement in offences of federal nature.
• There was high corruption rates during the post-war period that lasted up to 1930s (Domanick, 2003).
• There was heavy depletion of the force by the armed forces’ demands under the leadership of Chief Horrall during the Second World War. New recruitment period was reduced while personnel for war emergency were recruited.

History of professionalism

• Advocacy for autonomy in civilian administration and professionalism was instituted in the leadership of Parker in the 1950.
• Police brutality came to an end as calls for accountability in civilian matters began due to the Christmas scandal of 1951.
• 1955 marked the introduction of the LAPD motto of “To protect and to serve” (Domanick, 2003).
• Professionalism standards were set with increased media coverage through the Adam-12 & Dragnet.
• 1965 posed the greatest challenges to the period due to the watts riots.

History of leadership

• City Marshal William served in 1869 to 1876. Following his death, Gerkens Jacob replaced him during the period 1876-1889 having 15 chiefs.
• Glass John served from 1889 for 11 years while Sebastian Charles served up to 1915.
• The Second World War was characterized by the leadership of Charles Horrall. Parker served from 1950 to 1966 with advocacy for professionalism (Domanick, 2003).
• In 1967, Davis became chief up to 1978. He was followed by Grates, William and later Charles Beck was sworn in by the mayor in 2009 (LAPD, 2010).

Current resources

• The Los Angeles Police Department is endorsed with vast resources. It has a civilian air force that is the largest in the world (LAPD resources, 2010).
• It has 250 aircraft in the Air & Marine office.
• The air support division has 21 helicopters that include; Euro copter As350 ecureuits, Bell 260 jet rangers, Beech craft kingair A200 and Bell Ull-1 Heuy.
• The vans Nuys airport has air units too.
• A military submarine was present in the past few years.
• There are three facilities for the training division of the department that include; Edward Davis Training centre, Ahmanson Recruit Training centre and Elysian park.
• The LAPD uses BMW motor cycles that are installed with code-3 equipment, a shotgun, radio and documentation (LAPD, 2010).
• The sedans are used to enhance mobility.
• The LAPD uses the giant bicycles especially in Dodgers stadium and Elysian park.
• The LAPD has a special weapons & tactics unit. The equestrian unit has around 35 horses while the metro division has police dogs.
• LADP also has narcotics and bomb k9 units.
• The LADP runs a radio service that is digital for the communication services. The officers have custody of mobile radios known as rovers (LAPD, 2010).
• There has been tremendous growth in the numbers of police stations to include; Hollywood, Eagle Rock among others to a number of approximately 21 (Corwin, 2004).
• The Radio Telephone Operators have increased broadcast of crime to include details and descriptions of crime and units for response (LAPD Resources, 2010).

Current issues

• Okada & Maguire (2010) point out the issue of moral enforcement by the police in addition to criminal enforcement.
• The LADP has set up an environmental crimes unit under a supervising sergeant and is involved in conducting environmental crimes investigations. It is also involved in training in the field of hazardous materials (LAPD Threat Management Unit, 2010).
• The LAPD has faced issues of inadequate numbers of staff and lack of enough funds thus limiting its effectiveness.
• The safe & sober graduation is to take place in June 2010. This is aimed at promoting reduced crime and alcohol-based beverages accessibility (LAPD Blog, 2010).
• LADP is resolute in saving energy and reducing traffic and air pollution. It aims at encouraging the safe sharing of the road with motorists and cyclists through the launch of the bicycle week (LAPD Blog, 2010).
• On the threats of terrorism, organized crime, narcotics, trafficking and gang activity, LAPD has embarked on setting strategies to counter terrorism, convergence of community policing and implementing intelligence based policies.
• The increased rates of drug abuse and drug related crimes are issues of concern (Harrington, 2010).

Future challenges

• Lack of sufficient funds and inadequate numbers of staff pose as big challenges to the LAPD in the near future.
• Terrorism and new crime developments is bound to be a challenge too
• Drugs and their related crimes pose as a future challenge for the LAPD (Harrington, 2010).
• Relationships of the police and the community is a challenge because of the perceptions of the public concerning the brutality of the police and their involvement in corruption.

Conclusion

The LAPD has been effective in its work. Its long history reveals the sacrifice that has been made by the force in ensuring safety in the area. The vast resources, numerous awards and community involvement point out to the fulfillment of its objectives. The advancement of the force in terms of resources and handling issues appropriately is bound to increase the confidence of the people. Though there has been success, LAPD has to be prepared to deal with future challenges adequately.

Reference List

Corwin, M. (2004). Homicide special: A year with the LAPD elite detective unit. Los Angeles: Holt paperbacks.

Domanick, J. (2003). To protect and to serve: The LAPD century of war in the city of dreams. Los Angeles: Figueroa.

Harrington, P. (2010). Challenges facing police administrators. Web.

LAPD Resources. (2010). Los Angeles Police Department Resources. Web.

LAPD. (2010). Los Angeles Police Department Mission Statement. Web.

Okada, D., & Maguire, M. (2009). Critical issues in Crime & Justice. New York. Sage Publications.