True Crime Blog
Grape Street is one of infamy in South Los Angeles. The 9500 block sits north of the Jordan Downs housing projects, and both are home to the Grape Street Crips. When I worked at Firestone, it was considered a cherry patch for drug and gun arrests, and it probably still is. It is also in…
The (semi-) Honorable J. Spencer Letts, who closely resembled the judge in the hit comedy My Cousin Vinny, sat high upon his throne in all of his black robeness, and glared at the four cop defendants who stood before him. Yours truly was one of the four.
“She’s going to kill us both.” The big man at the other end of my gun glanced over to see my partner pointing her gun at him—at us—the barrel bouncing in her shaking hands. He said, “I’m cool, man.”
Three Basic Rules to Successful Policing 1) Don’t Go Hungry Far too often though, we would. Not by choice, but by activity. In my day (at least), we worked eight-hour days on patrol. There was no lunch break. You ate when you could. When and if it quieted enough to do so, you scarfed a…
On a warm L.A. morning, the first day of October 1987, Johnny Babbitt and I were working as radio car partners assigned to Firestone Station. Neither of us could have been any happier.
Slowly we patrolled the streets and alleys, our cruiser blacked out on a moonless night like a darkened gunship drifting through the mist. It was two hours past closing and two more before dawn, the time of night when cops and robbers alike prowled the City of Angels while her citizens peacefully slept. Suddenly,…
If you’re just dying to kill someone but find the prospect of prison tiresome, perhaps this handy little murderer’s manifesto is perfect for you! Have No Motive Do not kill out of anger, greed, or revenge, to cover another crime, or for sexual gratification. Do it just for the pure pleasure of doing so,…
Cop Holidays For cops, a holiday shift can run the gamut from excitement to danger to boredom to emotional drain. When I was a patrol deputy, I generally worked all of the holidays. Being single at the time, I would volunteer so that those with families could have the time off. Like many cops, I loved…
The unincorporated county area of Watts is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. From 1955 to 1994, deputies assigned to the area worked out of the legendary Firestone Station. I had the privilege to be trained there in 1986, and I remained until the doors closed in 1994. The eighties saw the height…