To Protect and to Serve: The LAPD's Century of War in the City of Dreams Hardcover – November 1, 1994

This is an essential text for understanding how the history of the LAPD led inexorably up to the 1992 riots. Domanick shows how, by the time the video of Rodney King being viciously beaten by LAPD officers appeared, the department had been primed for an explosion for a long time and how Jim Davis and Bill Parker had set things up in a way which, combined with the weakness of the mayor's office in LA and the specific weaknesses of Tom Bradley in the mid to late 80s, made the whole thing inevitable. The author's work on Jim Davis and Bill Parker's shaping of the department that Daryl Gates inherited is outstanding, using (hitherto unknown to me) articles from the late lamented Los Angeles Record.

A number of other reviewers complain about Domanick's bias and snark. Don't listen to them. This is an opinionated work, sure, but every statement of fact is substantiated in the endnotes. There's no way to write about this episode in history without being opinionated. Domanick tells his story from every point of view; he's snarky but the book is not biased. Other reviews complain that this isn't a general history of the LAPD. Well, it's just not. There are plenty of those available for those who want them, but this book only traces the antecedents of the riots. That's all it does, and it does it definitively. It's an essential work for anyone who wants to understand the modern history of Los Angeles.

From one side, I found the author's writing style to be mean-spirited and his analysis to lack the objectivity I would have expected considering how well he researched the historical information. From the other side, he skillfully weaves together a view of historical L.A. and the tradition of excess and abuse within its Police Department.

The book is engaging and enlightening, and the long-standing issues/problems within LAPD management are obvious from the facts presented by the author. However, the author's obvious bias, sarcasm and anti-police slant discredit the facts and attempts at establishing objectivity. The author should have respected the words of Dragnet's iconic LAPD character, Officer Joe Friday ... "only the facts, nothing but the facts."

I often felt that his historical accounting of the LAPD was so tainted by his personal bias, I became dubious reading accounts of legitimate LAPD abuses. The diatribes directed at conservatives, an oppressive US government, Reagan, etc. felt forced and misplaced. He should have let the facts speak for themselves ... they would have spoken louder.

I cannot speak to the author's research until after his discussions in 1962. As a former officer, having experienced the Watts riots, worker the riots and assigned to 77 Street Division, all I can say is he is WRONG about the riot. His depiction of a rouge Department is unbelievable. Allow me one example. I worked Wilshire Division in 1962. We had two man patrol units then and even before that. The author claims two man units were introduced just prior to the riots because of the tension building in the community. That is false. There was no tension. The bottom line is simple. EVERY NEWS channel showed the looting as it was occurring. It could not be stopped. There were 200,000 people rioting with 3,000 officers on duty to protect 465 square miles of LA. All we could do is surround the area and prevent the riot from spreading. Not until the National Guard was called in and a curfew established was order established. I find his book scattered with misinformation.

Joe Domanick moved from Queens NY to Los Angeles in the mid 1970s. He noticed the unusual power and autonomy of the LAPD. The `Acknowledgments' list the people and sources who helped him with this 1994 book. Is the LAPD "the most powerful, most independent, most arrogant, most feared, and most political big-city police department" (p.7)? The 465 square miles of Los Angeles had the fewest police per resident, and no major police scandals as in other big cities (pp.13-14). The manufacturing economy of South Central and East L.A. collapsed in the late 1970s and created high unemployment (p.15). This book lacks references to the `Source Notes'.

Part Two gives the history of Los Angeles and explains the development of the Police Department. August Vollmer began the professionalization to deal with corruption (p.49). What if this led to a powerful and independent entity? Police Chief James Davis invented the "dragnet" to stop and search for any "suspicious characters" (p.64). Mainstream reformers critical of the LAPD and City Hall were entrapped and arrested, the funds coming from organized crime (pp.54-56)! How could vice, gambling, and bootlegging flourish under a law-and-order police chief (p.56)? Davis also invented the "bum blockade" in 1936 to keep out people from other states (pp.60-62). The "Red Squad" broke strikes and attacked unions (pp.63-64). The shooting of a gambler united the forces of reform (p.75). Did the Intelligence Squad set a bomb in the car of an investigator for the reform movement (p.77)? Bill Parker rewrote Section 202 of the city charter to create new powers for all LAPD officers (p.94). There would be no checks and balances on the LAPD (p.95). There were no corruption scandals as in other big cities. "The Grip" described the "pro-active policing" of Bill Parker (p.111). These policies began to be overturned by the decisions of the Warren Supreme Court (p.113). That should tell you how "pro-active policing" violated the Constitution.

Part 3, Chapter 6 describes the ruling class of Los Angeles, such as the Committee of Twenty-five (p.151). Shows like "Dragnet" helped to promote the city. Hollywood controls almost all TV and movies, they were under the influence of Bill Parker and the LAPD. The LAPD did not tolerate immigrant gangsters (p.156). Bill Parker's Intelligence division allowed him to manipulate politicians (p.157), helped real estate interests (p.159), and to control a mayor (p.171). "Senseless violence" seems to be the result of unrelenting oppression (p.229). Domanick is wrong to claim Proposition 13 was a "revolt of the affluent", it was a correct response to Nixon's devalued dollars and the war on the middle class. Part 6 Chapter 1 tells what happened after the working class L.A. was devastated by corporate policies (p.311). That quote from "48 hours" might be planted propaganda (p.327).

When juries awarded LAPD's victims tens of millions of dollars in settlement awards, the city council authorized more money for a special police litigation unit (p.342). Again, Domanick doesnt' understand that "white people" (p.345) were getting hit with stagnant wages and rising costs. "Mass transit funds" (p.346) didn't help most people, only big corporations. Chapter 3 tells "The Raid on Dalton Avenue" was based on a false affidavit! LA now has the highest rates of violent crimes (p.355). Part 7 deals with the Rodney King encounter. The problem was the public didn't know "how to be arrested" (p.392)! Daryl Gates was suspended for 60 days. Gates knew how to do PR (p.395). The Christopher Commission decided Gates must go to improve the management of the LAPD (p.403). The verdict on the four LAPD officers was followed by an outbreak of fires and looting (Chapter 5). The LAPD did little (p.426). SNAFU (p.428)? The cause was Daryl Gates (p.429). The `Epilogue' sums it up. Proposition F passed, the LAPD would follow the rules, maybe (p.436).

The author of the book tells about the history of the Los Angeles Police Department and the various challenges they faced through the different times with different police chiefs. Different situations required different strategies and tactics.