The Arrest Gods
Even a couple of hard-charging Firestone deputies could hit a dry spell now and then. This was the result, we always reasoned, of someone having pissed off the arrest gods.
Tag: LASD
TV Series “Deputy”
The Fox TV Series, Deputy, has sparked some strong opinions from many of my colleagues from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the agency which is portrayed. Deputy: The Television Series Before the premiere episode, a trailer was circulating on Facebook, especially in some of our LASD groups. Many were upset by the way our…
New Year’s Eve in Firestone
On any night in South Los Angeles, gunfire crackles against the backdrop of revving motors and booming thumps of amplified bass. But on New Year’s Eve, those nightly but sporadic—and oftentimes purposeful—volleys of gunfire, are lost in the celebratory expenditures of what some of us consider to be precious metals.
Ineffective Policing
There are daily examples in the news or on the internet of the ineffective policing that now plagues many law enforcement agencies throughout our country. Anarchy in the Cities In some cities, police are ordered to stand down while terrorist groups like ANTIFA destroy property and assault citizens. In New York, police were seen turning…
The Murder of Deputy Michael Hoenig
During the early morning hours of October 30, 1997, Deputy Michael Hoenig was killed by gunfire as he attempted to stop a suspicious man on a bicycle in the City of Lynwood. Last week, I received a message from a colleague who had been reading the reflections posted on the Officer Down Memorial Page of…
The Plymouth Speech
“The Plymouth Speech” came about one night in Chinatown over gin and tonics while I sat with two of my best friends, Mac and Johnny B., lamenting a failed weekend with a high school sweetheart I’ll call Linda. “Sweetheart” might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there were obvious feelings each of us had…
The Day America Changed
By September 11, 2001, I had become accustomed to my phone ringing at all hours of the day and night. But on that Tuesday morning, it was my wife’s phone that rang at 5:50 a.m., not mine. It wasn’t the office calling. It wasn’t my partner, nor my lieutenant, nor an informant, witness, or a…
Ghettoside: Part II
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America As they walked him out of the building, Devin was back to whining. He wanted something—a soda. Skaggs turned, and for an instant, the calm, imperturbable patina he had maintained for two decades of working homicides slipped. Farell caught his look, surprised; he had never known Skaggs…
Ghettoside: An Interview with Author Jill Leovy
I just finished reading New York Times Bestseller Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, by former Los Angeles Times reporter Jill Leovy. It is the story of homicide in South Los Angeles, more specifically the seemingly endless epidemic of blacks murdering blacks. It is provocative, brutally honest, a story I believe should be…
The Hiring Process: My Experience with LASD
As a teenager, I was no fan of the cops. That was nothing unusual for a hot-rodder who liked to street race and cruise and maybe partake in adult libations at times.