Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was, until about 1965, considered one of the most highly professional and best-run law agencies in the country. In the 1950s and early ’60s the department prided itself on its ability “to protect and to serve” the sprawling metropolis and…

…that many members of the Los Angeles police department were racist, particularly Mark Fuhrman, a detective who allegedly found a bloody leather glove at Simpson’s home. The defense team argued that the glove could not have been Simpson’s, because it appeared too small for his hand when he tried it…

In 1943 officers of the Los Angeles Police Department were complicit in attacks on Mexican Americans by U.S. servicemen during the so-called Zoot Suit Riots, reflecting the department’s history of hostility toward Hispanics (Latinos). Regular harassment of homosexuals and transgender persons by police in New York City culminated in 1969…

…the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). More than 70 officers were implicated in misconduct, including unprovoked beatings and shootings, planting and covering up evidence, stealing and dealing drugs, and perjury.

…first woman appointed to the Los Angeles Police Department. Although Stebbins was not the first female police officer in the United States, she is believed to have been the first to hold powers of arrest.

…for a roundup by the Los Angeles Police Department of more than 600 young men and women, most of whom were Mexican American. Several of the zoot-suiters who were arrested were tried and, in January 1943, convicted of murder. However, many people denounced the circus atmosphere of the trial and…