LAPD Professionalism

“The LAPD struggled during the first dozen years of its existence, going through sixteen chiefs of police and developing an unsavory reputation for corruption and brutality.” (Escobar, 1999, p. 27) From the notorious “Bloody Christmas, to the infamous Rodney King scandal, the Los Angeles Police department has been at the forefront of unprofessionalism for the past few decades and has been deemed one of the most corrupt police departments in the country. Greed, race and politics played a role in the development of the LAPD. “To Protect and To Serve”, this is the motto of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD, 2014). Professionalism has changed throughout the decades within this police department. A majority of it has been designed around incidences

Parker. He continued to expand upon John M. Glass’ ideas of professionalism. Parker became Chief of Police in 1950. “The chief mandate for reformed police departments was ‘crime control’, and Chief William Parker’s Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the 1950’s was a progenitor of the new model for urban police departments: a crime-control technocracy.” (Sekhon, 2011) Chief parker was known for his reliability, and his ability to lead. William Parker, before becoming the chief of police for the Los Angeles Police Department, developed the first Bureau of Internal Affairs. The main function of this was to examine charges of police misconduct. This was a fundamental component toward professionalism because it gave them the opportunity to discern which officers were corrupt and who took bribes. According to the Los Angeles Police Department website, Chief Parker required civil service practices amongst his department and eliminated wasteful spending. He also established civil rights enforcement. “Congress and governments throughout the world sought is expertise, and his honors were legion. For many, he remains the prototype of the ideal chief.” (LAPD website) He unexpectedly died from a heart attack in