It took Bradley two more years to take control of the Police Commission. Only then, in 1975, did the commission order the department's Public Disorder Intelligence Division and Organized Crime Intelligence Division (the successors to Parker and Reddin's intelligence division) to destroy the intelligence files the department had amassed over the course of the preceding four-odd decades. Some two million dossiers were shredded.* But both intelligence divisions were retained. Together, they continued to employ nearly two hundred officers. But both intelligence divisions were retained. Together, they continued to employ nearly two hundred officers.
IN JANUARY 1978, after eight years as chief of police, Ed Davis resigned in order to pursue a career in politics. He was not interested in running for mayor. ("That position has no power. I have more power than the mayor.") Only one position in California state government seemed like a clear step up-being governor. By making a run for statewide office, Davis gave Daryl Gates the opportunity he had been dreaming of since his very first days in the department, when Chief Parker first began to school him as his successor.
Mayor Bradley didn't want him. The mayor was fed up with what his associates referred to as "the LAPD mentality"-an attitude that even Daryl Gates would later describe as "independence bordering on arrogance." Standing in his way was the system Bill Parker had created.
Los Angeles's civil service code still required the Police Commission to select a new chief from one of the top three scorers on the combined written/oral promotional exam, although it had been amended to provide for the possibility of an outside candidate. Rumor had it that Santa Monica police chief George Tielsch (who'd previously headed the Seattle Police Department) was Bradley's top choice. But at the end of the examination process, Daryl Gates was number one on the eligibility list.
The Police Commission hesitated. Selecting someone other than the top-ranked candidate would be a big Political risk. As it considered its choice, police commissioner Jim Fisk asked for a private meeting with Gates.
Fisk had been one of the LAPD's most talented new officers. Like Bradley, he had joined the department in 1940. He quickly established himself as one of the department's bravest policemen and routinely topped the civil service examinations. However, Fisk also had a reputation as a liberal. He was passed over by Parker for a position as deputy chief in the mid-1950s. Tapped to lead the department's community relations effort after Watts, he was passed over for the position of chief after Parker died, despite having the highest civil service score. When Reddin retired, the Police Commission again ignored Fisk's top score to select Ed Davis as police chief. Fisk left to teach at UCLA until he was summoned back by Mayor Bradley. As a member of the Police Commission, he was supposedly one of the department's five bosses. As a result, Fisk might well have expected that when he asked Gates to be more "flexible"-to show some willingness to take direction from the Police Commission-the assistant chief would have responded positively.
"Okay. What issue do you want me to compromise on?" Gates replied.
The Police Commission was under pressure to contain the department's rising costs (which were increasing, in no small measure, as a result of a pay increase Gates himself had championed as assistant chief). Fisk explained that he and his fellow commissioners felt that one way to mitigate the problem would be to prune the number of upper-level positions in the department. Gates listened noncommittally. He knew that one of his rivals for the top position, deputy chief Bob Vernon, had presented the commission with a detailed plan for trimming top management. Yet when Gates appeared before the full Police Commission and was asked if he'd be willing to eliminate upper-management positions, his reply was a simple "No."
"Why not?" Fisk asked.
"You know," Gates replied, "you people are really amazing. On the one hand, you talk very strongly about affirmative action, about moving blacks and Hispanics and women up in the organization. At the same time you want to cut out all of these top jobs. How are you going to have vacancies to move people into when you've slashed all these positions from the top?"
It was a remarkably insouciant response-and vintage Gates. Instead of offering a concession that would allow the Police Commission to choose him and save face, Gates was in effect daring them to pick someone else. They didn't have the nerve to. On March 24, 1978, Daryl Gates was named the next chief of police. He was sworn in four days later. The system that Bill Parker had created could not be broken. Chief Gates soon settled in as a chief in the Parker mold. Then came the evening of Saturday, March 2, 1991. As in Watts, it started with the California Highway Patrol.
TIM AND MELANIE SINGER were a husband-and-wife Highway Patrol team. On the night of March 2, they were patrolling the Foothill Freeway north of Los Angeles. They were headed toward Simi Valley when, in their rearview mirror, they spotted a white Hyundai gaining on them, fast. They pulled over and watched it blow past at upward of a hundred miles per hour. They gave chase, but the car ignored the patrol car's sirens. Instead, it accelerated. Units from the LAPD joined the chase. The Hyundai exited the freeway on Paxton Street, maintaining speeds of up to eighty-five miles per hour on residential streets, and tore through a red light at Van Nuys and Foothills, nearly causing a collision, before a pickup truck that was partially blocking the road brought the car to a stop just beyond the intersection of Osborne and Foothills, near the darkened entrance to Hansen Dam Park.
There were three passengers in the car, all black men. Two passengers got out and, following police instructions, lay down prone on the ground. The driver of the car hesitated and then slowly climbed out. Across the street, the sirens and police helicopter awakened a plumbing supply store manager, who'd recently purchased a video camera. He dressed and stumbled out to his balcony with the camcorder. Then he turned it on and captured nine minutes and twenty seconds of footage that showed a large black man charging the police. An officer swung his baton at the man, knocking him down. The officer kept swinging as the man writhed across the ground. A large group of officers stood by, arms folded. The man was then taken into custody. The videographer was disturbed by what seemed to be a brutal and blatant example of "street justice." The next day, he offered his tape first to the LAPD and then to CNN. Neither was interested. On Monday, the videographer took it to a local television station, KTLA. That evening, KTLA put the tape up on the ten o'clock news. By Tuesday morning, CNN (which had an affiliate agreement with KTLA) had started to put an edited version on the air, one that had cut out the driver's initial charge at the police. NBC had a tape by later in the day. The beating of Rodney King was now playing endlessly across the country.
The LAPD hierarchy was shocked by what they saw, although many commanders saw something very different from what the public did. LAPD Sgt. Charles Duke, a martial arts consultant, was distressed by how ineffectively the arresting officer used his baton. Other officers were disturbed by the failure of the supervising sergeant to make use of the large numbers of officers who had arrived at the scene and stood by watching. But the brass had no interest in examining the possibility that poor training had played a role in the beating. Instead, Chief Gates described the beating as an "aberration" and promised a full investigation. Mayor Bradley vowed that "appropriate action" would be taken against the officers involved. County DA Ira Reiner immediately convened a grand jury and within two weeks of the incident, four of the officers involved were indicted.
Mayor Bradley decided the time was right to assert his authority over the police department-authority that, legally, he did not have. On April 1, he announced the formation of "an independent commission" on the Los Angeles Police Department. Its chairman was attorney Warren Christopher, former vice chairman of the McCone Commission, deputy attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, deputy secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter, and a partner at O'Melveny & Myers, the city's most powerful law firm. The day after announcing the appointment, Bradley asked Gates for his resignation. Gates refused.
The Police Commission, whose members were Bradley loyalists, met secretly (in violation of state law) and then informed the chief that they were voting to put him on unpaid leave to investigate "serious allegations of mismanagement." This angered the chief. It was Mayor Bradley, not he, who had recently been dogged by a series of allegations about improper entanglements with businessmen seeking favors from the city. Gates said he'd see them in court. The city council, led by John Ferraro, pressured the Police Commission to reinstate Gates. Finally, after a judge issued a restraining order against the commission's attempted action, Ferraro managed to persuade Bradley and Gates to agree to a truce. Privately, though, Gates had come to believe that Bradley "had brought to Los Angeles a rat's nest of impropriety not seen since the days of the Shaw regime of the 1930s." Meanwhile, the prosecutors' case against the officers involved in the beating moved forward.
Three months later, on July 9, the Christopher Commission issued its report-and called for Chief Gates's resignation. Its conclusions were damning. The report described a department with a small number of "problem officers," who employed deadly force yet who never seemed to receive serious punishment. The commission criticized the department's retreat from community policing and spoke directly to the culture Daryl Gates had inherited and intensified: L.A.P.D. officers are trained to command and to confront, not to communicate. Regardless of their training, officers who are expected to produce high citation and arrest statistics and low response times do not also have time to explain their actions, to apologize when they make a mistake, or even to ask about problems in a neighborhood.
The historian Lou Cannon would later characterize the Christopher Commission report as "an impressive and penetrating indictment of the Los Angeles Police Department and its 'siege mentality.'" But Cannon noted that it was also seriously flawed.
One of the commission's most troubling findings was that the LAPD harbored a number of officers with racist sentiments. The evidence for this proposition came primarily from the text messages officers had sent to each other from their patrol cars' MDT units. Over the course of six months, the commission had reviewed six million text messages. Most had been about routine police matters, but a small yet "disturbing" subset suggested a culture of excessive force and racism. Examples cited included references to "kicking" witnesses, "queen cars," and-worst of all-"monkey-slapping time." It looked bad-Christopher would describe these texts as "abhorrent"-but only to someone who knew nothing at all about police lingo. "Kicking" a suspect meant releasing him. "Monkey-slapping time" was slang for goofing off. A "queen car" was not an automobile driven by homosexuals but rather a unit from a station assigned to a special duty. When the police department reviewed the texts in question (and eliminated phrases such as "Praise the lord and pass the ammunition" from the list of objectionable statements), it found 277 references to incidents that appeared to involve misconduct and 12 racial slurs-out of 6 million text messages. It is hard to imagine any big-city police department (or, for that matter, any institution at all) doing better. Not surprisingly, Gates responded by calling the group's report "a travesty."
Inaccurate though it was in many of its details, the Christopher Commission nonetheless identified what was in many ways the deepest source of tension between Bradley and Gates-namely, the police chief's extraordinary lack of accountability to the city's elected officials. That more than anything was Parker's legacy. Warren Christopher proposed to end it. Under a ballot proposition endorsed by his commission, the Police Commission would select three candidates, rank their preferences, and then send the list to the mayor to make the final choice, subject to the city council's approval. The Police Commission would be able to fire the chief at any point, with the mayor's concurrence. (The city council would also be able to overturn the Police Commission and mayor's decision with a two-thirds vote.) Gates immediately recognized that the true goal of the commission was "controlling the police." Protege of Bill Parker that he was, he vowed to fight it. Otherwise, "the chief would be silenced by the politicians and subject to the mayor's every whim.... The L.A.P.D. would become politicized for the first time since the corrupt 1930s."
That it might simply become accountable to the people's chosen representatives apparently never occurred to him. But Gates did understand that pressure to oust him was mounting. Fed up with being under assault, he was more than ready to leave-but he wanted to leave on his own terms. In late July, Gates announced that he would step down as chief the following year, in the spring of 1992. Until then, however, Gates resolved that he would do everything he could to preserve the chief's prerogatives for his successor. Capping the police chief's tenure and changing lines of authority in the department would require a change to the city charter. That would require a citywide referendum, one that would most likely be scheduled for the next round of municipal elections in June 1992. Chief Gates vowed to fight it.
Meanwhile, the lawyers for the officers indicted in the Rodney King beating were preparing motions that would transfer the trial to a location outside of L.A. County. But prosecutors weren't particularly worried. No trial had been moved outside of Los Angeles since 1978. On November 26, 1991, however, Judge Stanley Weisberg agreed to do just that. He transferred the case to Simi Valley, a bedroom community of 100,000 people northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County. Simi Valley was conservative, 80 percent white (and just 1.5 percent black), and popular with LAPD retirees. A more favorable venue for the police officers was hard to imagine.
JURY SELECTION BEGAN in February 1992. At the end of the month, prosecutors faced an all-white jury. On March 2, 1992, one day short of the first anniversary of the Rodney King incident, the trial got under way. In the mind of the public, the Rodney King beating was a straightforward case of police brutality. But in the courtroom, matters weren't so clear-cut. Rodney King had led the police on a high-speed car chase. As the arresting officers feared, he was an intoxicated ex-con. Tests for PCP proved inconclusive, but officers' fears were understandable in light of what had occurred before the famous videotape started running. King had thrown off four officers who attempted to "swarm" him and had then shaken off two attempts to subdue him with a Taser, before charging the police. All of these factors lent credence to the claims made by officers on the scene that they believed they were dealing with someone high on PCP, whom they were endeavoring to subdue without shooting him. On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted the four police officers on all but one of the charges.
The jury in Simi Valley had been out for deliberation for almost a week. As the days passed, anxiety in South-Central Los Angeles had steadily grown. Watts had come as a horrible surprise, a massive riot whose precipitating incident had been a random California Highway Patrol stop. But by 1992, most residents of Los Angeles understood the possibility of urban violence. When the jury told the presiding judge it had reached a verdict, the court immediately informed the LAPD-and delayed the courtroom opening of the verdict for two hours, a decision that gave the LAPD time to prepare. But with a handful of exceptions, no preparations were made.
For a department that had long been obsessed with its failure to contain the Watts riots, the apparent lack of concern about what might ensue in the event of an acquittal was curious. But even if no operational preparations for trouble had commenced, it would have been reasonable to expect that the LAPD now had the tactics, training, and materiel to respond to a Watts-style insurrection. After all, Chief Gates himself had seen the inadequacies of the department's earlier preparations. He had also seen the danger of withdrawing from a riot area in the hope that an outbreak of violence would burn itself out. LAPD policy was clear: The department would respond with overwhelming force (which included two armored personnel carriers) to any outbreak of civil unrest, arresting and prosecuting everyone involved and cordoning off the area so that the violence would not spread.
At least, that was the theory. But as angry crowds gathered at the intersection of 55th and Normandie, the LAPD once again seemed utterly unprepared. Worse, it seemed complacent. Requests to deploy the elite Metro unit in riot gear had been rebuffed on the theory that "riots don't happen during the daytime." No tear gas had been distributed; requests to deploy rubber bullets had been rejected; and no instructions had been provided to officers at the 77th Street station, which was located in the heart of South-Central. By 5:30 p.m., rioting had begun. Its epicenter was the intersection of Florence and Normandie. As in Watts, a crowd had assembled near the scene where police were making an arrest-and the crowd was quickly turning ugly. The LAPD now faced its post-Watts moment of truth. But instead of clearing the mob and seizing control of the intersection, as post-Watts operating procedure called for, LAPD personnel on the scene pulled back. By 5:45, the rioters had the streets to themselves.
The mood at police headquarters (known since 1969 as Parker Center) was oddly unconcerned. In recent months, the once-defiant Gates had become disengaged. Everyone expected that he would resign soon but no one knew when. As for Mayor Bradley, who had not spoken to his police chief in thirteen months, he seemed more concerned about the possibility that the LAPD might spark violence by overreacting than about the violence that was already unfolding. Neither man seemed able to grasp the reality of what was happening. When a reporter stopped Chief Gates at half past six that evening and asked how the LAPD was responding to the growing unrest, he paused and then placidly replied that the department was responding "calmly, maturely, and professionally." Then he left for a fund-raiser in Mandeville Canyon in distant Brentwood. Its purpose was to raise money to oppose Amendment F, the amendment to the city charter proposed by the Christopher Commission that would give the mayor authority to select the police chief and limit future police chiefs to two five-year terms.
BACK IN SOUTH-CENTRAL, the Watts riots seemed to be replaying themselves. Once again, the rioters broke into the liquor stores first, then the pawnshops, where they found an ample supply of guns. Once again, confusion reigned at 77th Street station. No effort was made to regain control of the street. No perimeter was established to contain the violence. The major routes into South-Central were not sealed off. Meanwhile, the area's gangs took control of the streets, much as they had back in 1965. White motorists who ventured into the riot zone were dragged out of their cars and beaten. The most horrifying episode involved a white big-rig truck driver, Reginald Denny, who was pulled out of his cab by a handful of black youths, kicked, beaten with a claw hammer, and then nearly killed by a youth, Damian Williams, who struck Denny on the head with a block of concrete. As Chief Gates drove toward Brentwood-and Mayor Bradley drove toward the launch of his "Operation Cool Response"-Angelenos watched in horror as news helicopters hovering overhead televised Williams doing a touchdown-style dance and flashing the symbol of the Eight Tray Gangster Crips.* Not until 8:15 p.m. did Gates return to Parker Center. Not until 8:15 p.m. did Gates return to Parker Center.
In 1965, Parker had pushed early and hard for the National Guard while Lt. Gov. Glenn Anderson hesitated. In 1992, it was Gov. Pete Wilson who pushed hardest for the Guard. At 9 p.m. that night, Wilson finally prevailed upon Mayor Bradley and Chief Gates to allow him to summon the National Guard. Not until later that night when he went out into the field did Gates grasp the magnitude of the disaster that was unfolding-and the extent of the LAPD's failure. The staging area at 77th Street station was complete chaos. The most basic tenets of riot control, such as cordoning off the area where violence was occurring, had not been observed. Gates had trusted his commanders, and they had failed him. The chief, who treated his senior commanders much more kindly than Chief Parker had, erupted in rage. Then, like a ghost, he disappeared into the night with his driver and a security aide.
In the early hours of the morning, two officers guarding a church at the corner of Arlington and Vernon were startled to see the chief pull up. Gates asked if they needed anything. One of the officers requested a Diet Coke from a nearby convenience store. "No problem," said the chief. A few minutes later, Gates's driver returned-without the soda. Gates wanted them to light their safety flares so that no one would run into their car by accident.
"There's a riot going on, and the chief is micromanaging how our car was parked," one of the officers later marveled. He laughed at this advice. The other officer was more upset. She'd really wanted a Diet Coke.
Gates did not return to the command post until 6 a.m. that morning. Only then, on Thursday morning, did the LAPD request assistance from the sheriff's department, which was prepared to lend the department up to five hundred officers. That night, the National Guard at last began to deploy. Not until Monday morning, May 4, was the violence finally stopped. By then, fifty-four people had died, more than two thousand had been injured and treated in hospital emergency rooms, and more than eight hundred buildings had burned-four times the number destroyed during the Watts riots. Because of the LAPD's failure to cordon off the area where the violence started, the looting and violence spread much farther than it had in 1965. Venice and Hollywood saw outbreaks of violence. Homeowners in posh Hancock Park and elsewhere hired mercenaries to protect their neighborhoods. Ultimately, property damages exceeded $900 million.
As the historian Lou Cannon has noted, there was a terrible irony to what had transpired: Ironically, the L.A.P.D. was unprepared for the riots largely because Gates had not demonstrated the independence he feared would be stripped from future chiefs. Instead of standing up to Mayor Bradley and the black leaders who feared that aggressive police deployment might cause a provocation, Gates had attempted to appease politicians by ordering the department to keep a low profile during jury deliberations.
By failing to respond forcefully to the riots, the LAPD had shown, in effect, that it had already lost its independence.
On June 2, just a month after the riots had ended, the voters of Los Angeles made it official. Prior to the riots, Warren Christopher had drafted Charter Amendment F, which limited the police chief's tenure to two five-year terms, stripped civil service protections from the chief's position, and allowed the Police Commission to remove a chief for reasons other than misconduct. Charter Amendment F also targeted the protections Parker had won for the rank and file, adding a civilian to the department's internal disciplinary panels and generally weakening procedural protections for police officers. Yet despite the unfavorable publicity that had followed the release of the Rodney King video, Amendment F's electoral prospects had been uncertain. That changed after the riots. The vote now offered voters a chance to weigh in on the performance of Chief Gates. On June 2, 1992, by a two-to-one margin, voters approved Christopher's charter amendment. Daryl Gates retired three weeks later. The system Bill Parker had created was finally dead.
* Former intelligence division chief Daryl Gates would later insist this was much ado about nothing: "Many of those 'files' were 3 5 index cards used to reference files which contained only newspapers clippings." Even if this is true, that still meant that the LAPD had collected, by Gates's own estimation, "highly sensitive information" roughly 100,000 "subversives." This was intelligence gathering on a very large scale. (Gates, Former intelligence division chief Daryl Gates would later insist this was much ado about nothing: "Many of those 'files' were 3 5 index cards used to reference files which contained only newspapers clippings." Even if this is true, that still meant that the LAPD had collected, by Gates's own estimation, "highly sensitive information" roughly 100,000 "subversives." This was intelligence gathering on a very large scale. (Gates, Chief Chief, 226.)* Denny lived only because four other neighborhood residents-African Americans all-saw what was happening on television and rushed out to the intersection in question. Finding Denny, one member of the party, a truck driver, drove him to a nearby hospital, where a team of five surgeons [two of them African Americans] managed to save his life. (Cannon, Denny lived only because four other neighborhood residents-African Americans all-saw what was happening on television and rushed out to the intersection in question. Finding Denny, one member of the party, a truck driver, drove him to a nearby hospital, where a team of five surgeons [two of them African Americans] managed to save his life. (Cannon, Official Negligence Official Negligence, 308-309.)
AcknowledgmentsTHIS BOOK BEGAN five years ago, when I went to Los Angeles to report a story on LAPD chief William Bratton for Governing Governing magazine. I had lived in Los Angeles previously and had been fascinated by its history. As a result, I was more interested in the history of the department than I might otherwise have been. I soon found myself pondering a puzzle: How did the police department of James "Two Gun" Davis and "Bloody Christmas"-the magazine. I had lived in Los Angeles previously and had been fascinated by its history. As a result, I was more interested in the history of the department than I might otherwise have been. I soon found myself pondering a puzzle: How did the police department of James "Two Gun" Davis and "Bloody Christmas"-the L.A. Confidential L.A. Confidential LAPD, as it were-suddenly become the LAPD, as it were-suddenly become the Dragnet Dragnet LAPD? How did a department that had answered for decades to corrupt politicians come to answer to no one? The more deeply I read, the more convinced I became that the answer was bound up in the life of Chief William H. Parker. LAPD? How did a department that had answered for decades to corrupt politicians come to answer to no one? The more deeply I read, the more convinced I became that the answer was bound up in the life of Chief William H. Parker.I knew Parker only as a name, an esteemed but controversial police chief whom criminologists associated with what they call "the professional model" of policing. To his many admirers, he was a saint and a prophet. To his many detractors, he was an "arrogant racist" who nearly destroyed the west's greatest city. I approached him as a person. For that initial introduction, I must first thank Sgt. Steve Williams and Regina Menez of the William H. Parker Police Foundation, and Parker Foundation president Kenneth Esteves for generously opening the archive records to me. Retired LAPD officer Dennis DeNoi was an early and enthusiastic guide to their contents. After a week of reading in the archives, I was convinced that the story of Chief Parker's LAPD was central to the history of Los Angeles and determined to write about it. My agent, Jill Kneerim, offered encouragement and wise counsel from the start. She pushed this book in all the right ways.The Los Angeles Police Department was exceptionally supportive from the beginning. The Police Commission, the city attorney's office, and Chief Bratton gave me access to internal departmental records from the period, making me only the second outside researcher so favored. I gratefully acknowledge their help and support. Todd Gaydowski, records management officer for the City of Los Angeles, facilitated my every request. Mary Grady, Richard Tefank, and Tamryn Catania were unfailingly helpful.I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the first researcher given access to the LAPD's departmental files, Arizona State University professor Edward Escobar. Professor Escobar pointed me to one of the city's most valuable historical resources, the LAPD scrapbooks housed at the City Records Center atop the Piper Technical Center downtown. Professor Escobar also invited me into his own home for a week to review copies of LAPD files from the 1950s and 1960s that were deaccessioned by the department in 1999. His personal collection now constitutes the most complete repository of official records from this era. I greatly appreciate his hospitality and admire his trailblazing work in the history of Chicano Los Angeles.At Piper Tech, I passed many fascinating months in the company of city archivists Jay Jones and Mike Holland, who patiently explained to me the intricacies of Police Commission and city council minutes and their associated files, while keeping me fueled with delectable home-roasted coffee. Todd Gaydowski was my guide to the LAPD's chief of police files. Former Los Angeles archivist-turned-L.A. City Historical Society-dynamo Hynda Rudd also offered encouragement and advice. To Todd, Jay, Mike, and Hynda, my sincere thanks.Other archives also offered valuable assistance during the course of my research. The staff of the Newberry Library in Chicago provided enthusiastic assistance working with the Ben Hecht Collection. It was my week in Chicago that convinced me that Mickey Cohen, as both a product and a leader of the underworld, was the central antagonist in Parker's story and an essential part of the history of Los Angeles. Back in Los Angeles, UCLA's Special Collections was a home away from home. The Joseph Shaw, Harold Story, and Norris Poulson Collections all added greatly to my understanding of midcentury Los Angeles; interacting with UCLA staff was a daily pleasure. My sincere thanks to Angela Riggio, Genie Guerard, Robert Montoya, Aislinn Catherine Sotelo, and everyone there who helped me. Six weeks at the Huntington Library exploring the papers of former mayor Fletcher Bowron made me envy academics. My thanks to Laura Stalker for making that possible. In Washington, D.C., John Martin and the staff of the Library of Congress helped me do an amazing amount of West Coast research from the East Coast.Los Angeles Police Historical Society executive director Glynn Martin offered generous support and gentle corrections throughout. Former LAPD captain Will Gartland helped me connect with numerous veterans of Parker's LAPD. Thank you to Arthur Sjoquist and everyone else who spoke to me. My special thanks to Joseph Parker, former chief Daryl Gates, former acting chief Bob Rock, former deputy chief Harold Sullivan, and Parker-era Police Commission members Frank Hathaway and Elbert Hudson. In Houston, Joseph and Jane Parker shared their time and reminiscences generously. Their recollections made Chief Parker come alive.Among the pleasures afforded me by this book was the chance to return to Santa Monica. Numerous friends, old and new, welcomed my family back to our old neighborhood. Ashley Salisbury repeatedly offered her sharp editorial eye as well as her delightful company; Marc and Jessica Evans offered friendship, encouragement, and dazzling generosity in all things. Yong-nam Jun brightened many a lunch at Philippe; Eric Moses provided insights and company; Andrew Sabl and Miriam Laugesen, a home to live in. Ana Lopez and Marva Bennett took care of our family like their own. From New York, Michael Cohen offered excellent suggestions and much-appreciated support. Robin Toone spared me from several legal errors.I owe a special debt of gratitude to my editor at Governing Governing, Alan Ehrenhalt, and his wife, Suzanne. Thank you for your support, your excellent edits, and for giving me a job when I returned to D.C. My editor at Harmony Books, John Glusman, pushed me to find the story (and waited patiently while I did). This book is better off for it.Finally, thank you to my family. To my parents, John and Sally, without a lifetime of support, I would never have attempted to write this book. Without your many trips to Santa Monica, I would never have succeeded. Oliver and Tom, what wonders you are.The last paragraph goes to my wife, Melinda, who moved back to L.A. and made innumerable sacrifices over the course of five years so that I could write this book. I am profoundly grateful for your support, friendship, and love. It is to you that this book is dedicated.
Notes.
Chapter One: The Mickey Mouse Mafia"[A] dead-rotten law enforcement": Stoker, Thicker'n Thieves Thicker'n Thieves, 131.Mickey Cohen was not a man: "Year Passes but Murder Not Solved: Search for Woman's Slayer Recalls Other Mysteries," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, February 14, 1949; Stoker, Thicker'n Thieves Thicker'n Thieves, 199. Quotes from Cohen come primarily from his published memoirs (as told to John Peer Nugent), In My Own Words; In My Own Words; Muir, Muir, Headline Happy; Headline Happy; and Vaus's and Vaus's Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, as cited below."I looked": Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 4, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.The fact of the matter was: Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 30-31."Power's a funny thing": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 81.Administrative vice's response was: California Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime report, Sacramento, January 31, 1950, 32. See "Cohen Introduces Sound Recorder," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1949, 10, for an account of the incidents of the evening. "Cohen to Testify in Partner's Case: Deputy Sheriff Denies Policeman's Story That Meltzer Displayed Gun at Arrest," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1949, A8, would seem to verify Mickey's claim that the gun was planted. However, historian Gerald Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," claims that strong circumstantial evidence linked the gun to Meltzer (404).Mickey was furious: Stoker, Thicker'n Thieves Thicker'n Thieves, 179. "Brenda's Revenge," Time Time magazine, July 11, 1949. magazine, July 11, 1949.As Mickey started to: Mickey's claim to have driven all the way back to Wilshire without looking up seems implausible given the two miles of curves he would have had to traverse on San Vicente Boulevard.Cohen didn't report: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 122-23; Jennings, "Private Life of a Hood, Part III," October 4, 1958.The evening of: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 125-29. Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 202-10.By 3:30: Some accounts of the shooting mention only the shotgun (or two shotguns). See Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 205, 207-209; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 126.Later that night: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 202-209; "Full Story of Mob Shooting of Cohen," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, July 20, 1949.The papers, of course: Howser was actively attempting to organize and extort money from Northern California bookmakers, slot machine operators, and other gamblers. Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 291.Brown was a big teddy: Author interview with Daryl Gates, December 10, 2004; McDougal, Privileged Son Privileged Son, p. 194."I had gambling joints: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 146-47.Cohen arrived in Chicago: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 418.
Chapter Two: The "White Spot""Wherein lies the fascination ...": Wright, "Los Angeles-The Chemically Pure," The Smart Set Anthology The Smart Set Anthology, 101.Other cities were based: Findley, "The Economic Boom of the 'Twenties in Los Angeles," 252; "The Soul of the City," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1923, 114; Fogelson, The Fragmented Metropolis The Fragmented Metropolis, 80; Davis, "The View from Spring Street: White-Collar Men in the City of Angeles," Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 180. The "white spot" metaphor began innocently, as a description of business conditions in Los Angeles in the early 1920s, but soon took on troubling racial connotations.The historic center of: Percival, "In Our Cathay," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1898, 6. See also AnneMarie Kooistra, "Angels for Sale," 25 and 29 for maps of L.A.'s historic tenderloin district, as well as 91, 174-75; Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 89; Woods, "The Progressives and Police," 57; Sitton "Did the Ruling Class Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" in Metropolis in the Metropolis in the Making Making, 309.The city also boasted: Hurewitz, Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics Bohemian Los Angeles and the Making of Modern Politics, 104; Mann, Behind the Screen Behind the Screen, 89.Congressman Parker's position: "Col W. H. Parker Called By Death: South Dakota Congressman Passed Away Yesterday-Speaker Cannon Expresses Deep Regret," clipping from Deadwood newspaper, William H. Parker Foundation archives.As a child, Bill: The oldest Parker sibling, Catherine Irene, was born on August 29, 1903. Bill was born two years later, on June 21, 1905, followed by Alfred on May 29, 1908; Mary Ann in 1911; and Joseph on April 10, 1918. Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004.As an obviously intelligent: Sjoquist, "The Story of Bill," The Link The Link, 1994; Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 91.In later years, Parker: See "Police Instincts of Bill Parker Flourished Early," Los Angeles Mirror-News Los Angeles Mirror-News, June 18, 1957, for a typical (and improbable) account of this period in Parker's life.Los Angeles was Deadwood: In 1934, the United States Geographical Board recognized the most popular variant, today's "Los An-ju-less." Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 26. However, controversies about the proper pronunciation lingered into the 1950s. "With a Soft G," Time Time magazine, September 22, 1952. magazine, September 22, 1952.Whatever its pronunciation: John Anson Ford, who moved to L.A. in 1920 from Chicago, recounts the wagon trail-like quality of the migration in this description of the journey: "We had not expected to find so many other motorists, equipped very much as we were, all heading for California. On long level stretches of the dirt roadway each day we could see cars ahead and behind us, perhaps half a mile apart. Each car was followed by a long plume of dust. These automobiles, laden with camping equipment, household goods, and the unkempt appearance of both children and adults, made them easily distinguishable from local farmers or city dwellers. An amazingly large segment of the nation was on the move-and that move was to California." Ford, Honest Politics My Theme Honest Politics My Theme, 52-53; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 75; Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 80."The whole Middle West": Garland, Diaries Diaries, 40."If every conceivable trick: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/hollywoodsign/index.html.Then there was the: Fogelson, The Fragmented Metropolis The Fragmented Metropolis, 127. See also Tygiel, "Metropolis in the Making," 1-9.The Parkers settled first: "Champion 'Ag-inner' of Universe Is Shuler, Belligerent Local Pastor Holds All Records for Attacks Upon Everybody, Everything," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1930, A2; Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 136-39.By 1910, the year: http://www.life.com/Life/lifebooks/hollywood/intro.html; Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 98; Ross, "How Hollywood Became Hollywood," in Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 262.Parker was plankton in: "Plans Submitted for Fine Theater: Picture Palace to Follow Elaborate Spanish Architecture," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1920, V1.The first was Theodosia: "Milestones," Time Time magazine, April 18, 1955. magazine, April 18, 1955.As the movies heated: Dixon, "Problems of a Working Girl: Queer Aspects of Human Nature Exhibited to Quiet and Watchful Theater Workers, Says Love is Catching 'Like the Measles," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1919, 112.As chief of police: Parker's claim to have been born in 1902 rather than 1905 dates to this era, raising the possibility that he lied about his age so that he could claim to be slightly older than Francis. Divorce petition, Francette Pomeroy, Oregon City, OR.Despite (or perhaps because of): Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004. It should be noted that my account of Bill's first marriage comes almost entirely from his wife's divorce petition. Such accounts are invariably one-sided; exaggerating spousal cruelty was a common tactic for achieving a speedy divorce. It should also be remembered that Bill's response to his wife's behavior would have struck many men as wholly justified at the time.Any attempt to heist: Reid, Mickey Cohen: Mobster Mickey Cohen: Mobster, 39. See also unpublished notes for Mickey Cohen biography dated February 6, 1959, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Box 7.
Chapter Three: The Combination"The purpose of any political": Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 315, 341.He was born Meyer: There is some confusion about Mickey's birth date. Cohen himself generally claimed that he was born in 1913; however, his funeral marker says he was born in 1914. Still other evidence points to a 1911 birth date. See Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 1; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 3. Other accounts of Mickey's life say that his father was a grocer.Fanny, Mickey, and sister: Boyle Heights's Jewish population jumped from 10,000 in 1917 to 43,000 in 1923, making it home to about a third of Los Angeles's Jewish population. Romo, History of a Barrio History of a Barrio, 65. The current brick Breed Street Shul was finished several years later, in 1923.Mickey soon became a: Clarke and Saldana, "True Life Story of Mickey Cohen," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, July 1949. This is the beginning of a nine-part series on Mickey that is a valuable, though not always reliable, guide to his life. See also "Cohen Began as a Spoiled Brat," the second installment in the series.Mickey's entree came from: Mickey's exact age at the time of this incident is somewhat unclear. In Mickey Cohen: Mobster Mickey Cohen: Mobster, Ed Reid says that this occurred when he was seven (37-39). In his autobiography, In My Own Words In My Own Words, Cohen says that this incident occurred when he was nine (5).What followed was a: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, Chapter One.Clearly, Mickey had a: The FBI would later estimate his IQ to be 98. Cohen FBI files.While Mickey started his: The following year Los Angeles would surpass it-a lead L.A. would maintain until the 1990s. Klein, The History of Forgetting The History of Forgetting, 75. However, Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 73, disputes the belief, widespread at the time, that Los Angeles was suffering a crime wave."The white spot of ...": "The Soul of the City," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1923, 114.By 1922, Harry Chandler: In 1909, progressive reformers had dismantled the old ward system that had allowed Democrats, Catholics, and Jews to be elected to political office in favor of a system that provided for only citywide at-large elections. The result was a city government dominated by Times Times readers-white, middle-class Protestant Republicans. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 9. readers-white, middle-class Protestant Republicans. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 9.
The Times Times newsroom claimed that Chandler was the eleventh wealthiest man in the world. Gottlieb and Wolt, newsroom claimed that Chandler was the eleventh wealthiest man in the world. Gottlieb and Wolt, Thinking Big Thinking Big, 125; "The White Spot Glistens Brightly," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1921, II; Taylor, "It Costs $1000 to Have Lunch with Harry Chandler," Saturday Evening Post Saturday Evening Post, December 16, 1939.Now was just such: Sitton, "Did the Ruling Class Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" in Sitton and Deverell, eds., Metropolis in the Making Metropolis in the Making, 305.At first, everything went: Fogelson, Fragmented Metropolis Fragmented Metropolis, 219. Los Angeles mayors initially served only two-year terms, hence the high tally.This was embarrassing: Sitton, "The 'Boss' Without a Machine: Kent K. Parrot and Los Angeles Politics in the 1920s."By firing Oaks and: Sitton, "The 'Boss' Without a Machine: Kent K. Parrot and Los Angeles Politics in the 1920s."Bootlegging had been a profitable: Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 60.At first, much of: Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 130. See also Nathan, "How Whiskey Smugglers Buy and Land Cargoes, Well-Organized Groups Engaged in Desperate Game of Rum-Running," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1926, B5; Rappleye, All-American Mafioso All-American Mafioso, 40; and Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 60. It is not surprising that Nathan neglects to mention Combination figures such as Guy McAfee, who had ties to the Chandler-favored Cryer administration.In the big eastern: Law enforcement was too. Historian Robert Fogelson has argued that people engaged in both professions for similar reasons, notably out of a desire for upward social mobility. According to Fogelson, this is one of the reasons why graft and corruption were so prevalent in urban police departments: Many of the men who staffed them were as interested in getting ahead as the men who were paying them off. See Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police 29, 35. 29, 35.
For more on Crawford, see "Crawford Career Hectic, Politician Gained Wide Notoriety as 'Pay-Off Man' in Morris Lavine Extortion Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1931, 2. See also Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 305-6.Crawford got back in: The exact relationship between Crawford and Marco is unclear. While Crawford seems to have kept a hand in prostitution, he was apparently more of a political fixer; Marco, in contrast, was more hands on. Most accounts of the era accord Crawford the position of primacy; however, some describe Marco as the leader of the Combination. Others point to Guy McAfee, "Detective McAfee is Exonerated," Los Angeles Time Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1916, I9.Cornero tried to buy: I say "seemed overt" because in this instance, Farmer's claim of self-defense was actually quite plausible. Nonetheless, in general it was clear that Farmer enjoyed considerable advantages, including (somewhat later) having his personal attorney on the Police Commission. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 233, 237."Mr. Cryer, how much ...": "Bledsoe Hurls Defy at Cryer, Challenges Parrot's Status as De-Facto Mayor," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1925."Shall We Re-Elect..." "Shall We Re-Elect Kent Parrot?" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1925, A1.The Times Times publisher was: For a discussion of Parrot's sway over the LAPD, see "Oaks Names Kent Parrot, Charges Lawyer Interfered in Police Department, 'Dictatorial and Threatening,'" publisher was: For a discussion of Parrot's sway over the LAPD, see "Oaks Names Kent Parrot, Charges Lawyer Interfered in Police Department, 'Dictatorial and Threatening,'" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1923, I14; "Dark Trails to City Hall are Uncovered: How Negro Politicians Make and Unmake Police Vice Squad Told in Heath Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1923, and "Kent Parrot Accused by Richards as 'Sinister,' Retiring Harbor Commissioner Names Him as Would-Be Boss," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 1, 1923, Sitton, "The 'Boss' Without a Machine," 372-73.In truth, each camp: Sitton, "Did the Ruling Class Rule at City Hall in 1920s Los Angeles?" 312. See also Domanick, To Protect and Serve To Protect and Serve, 40-49, for an extended and colorful discussion of James Davis.With a measure of: The arrest of councilman Carl Jacobson was a variant on a common police racket known as the badger game, an extortion racket made possible by the fact that extramarital sex was actually illegal in Los Angeles. The setup was simple: Working with an unmarried female accomplice, the police arranged an assignation, usually at a downtown hotel, and then burst in to make an arrest-unless, that is, they received a payoff. In this instance, however, Councilman Jacob-son boldly refused to go with the usual script. Insisting that he had been framed, he demanded a trial and was acquitted. He later sued Crawford, vice lord Albert Marco, Callie Grimes (the would-be temptress), and five police officers. However, they, too, were acquitted, leaving the question of exactly what happened in Ms. Grimes's bedroom hopelessly unsettled. "Crawford Career Hectic," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1931, 2. See also Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 252-55.Parker tried to focus: Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 70.Freed of his wife: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 82, 103. Author interview with Joseph Parker, Houston, Texas, December 12-13, 2004.On April 24, 1926: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 102; letter from the Board of Civil Service Commissioners, September 28, 1926, William H. Parker Police Foundation Archives. Note that Police Commission minutes misrecord his name as "William H. Park."
Chapter Four: The Bad Old Good Old Days"[A] smart lawyer can ...": White, Me, Detective Me, Detective, 188; Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 37."The name of this city ...": Fogelson, Fragmented Metropolis Fragmented Metropolis, 26, quoting the diary of the Rev. James L. Woods, November 24, 1854 (at the Huntington Library)."While there are undoubtedly ...": "Committee of Safety Makes Its Report," Los Angeles Herald Los Angeles Herald, November 8, 1900; Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 9.In their defense: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 24.The activities of plainclothes: Fogelson, Big City Police Big City Police, 51.In 1902, the LAPD's: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 25. Reverend Kendall's Queen of the Red-Lights Queen of the Red-Lights, which is based on Pearl Morton, is an excellent introduction to the genre.The decision to prohibit: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 49.There were moments when: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 71.One night soon after: For one of Parker's several accounts of this episode, see Dean Jennings, "Portrait of a Police Chief," 84. In the 1930s, Arlington was the reputed bagman for the Combination's gambling interests.Today the police beat: New York City was something of an exception. There the profusion of publications put reporters in a more supplicatory position. Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 41.Infuriated at the idea: Jacoby, "Highlights in the Life of the Chief of Police," Eight Ball Eight Ball, March 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives."'Come along, sister, and...'": Quoted in Starr, Material Dreams Material Dreams, 170-71. That same year, the old police station/stockade was torn down and the new Lincoln Heights Jail was built in its place. Ted Thackrey, "Memories-Lincoln Heights Jail Closing," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, June 27, 1965.Cops sometimes acted violently: White, Me, Detective Me, Detective, 188; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 225.
The existence of "the third degree" was a hotly debated topic at the time. Police chiefs denied its existence. Critics insisted that it was routinely used. To some extent, both sides were talking past each other. Police chiefs defined the "third degree" as torture, critics as coercive pressure. The analogy to current-day interrogation tactics for suspected terrorists is very close. See also Wickersham Commission, 146-47; and Hopkins, Lawless Law Enforcement Lawless Law Enforcement.Remarkably, the LAPD was: Carte and Carte, Police Reform in the United States Police Reform in the United States, 60. See also Hopkins, Lawless Law Enforcement Lawless Law Enforcement.Parker told the man: "Why Hoodlums Hate Bill Parker," Readers Digest Readers Digest, March 1960, 239, condensed from National Civic Review National Civic Review (September 1959). (September 1959)."Open the door so ...": Stump, "LA's Chief Parker."Later that year: Wedding announcement, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1928, 24.The Great Depression intervened: Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 165."Statements from Bill kept ...": Letter from Helen, William H. Parker Police Foundation archive.
Chapter Five: "Jewboy""I wasn't the worse ...": Cohen manuscript, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. Mickey would later claim to have fought seventy-nine pro fights, including five against past, present, or future world champions. Cohen biographer Brad Lewis counts a more modest (but still impressive) record of sixty wins (twenty-five by knockout) and sixteen losses. Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 14.As a condition for his: Unpublished Cohen manuscript, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Mickey was not: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 6-8.Yet despite this youthful: Reid, Mickey Cohen Mickey Cohen, 39-40.Lou Stillman's gym: Schulberg, The Harder They Fall The Harder They Fall, 90.The men surrounding Mickey: "Lou Stillman, Legendary Boxing Figure, Is Dead," New York Times New York Times obituary, August 20, 1969. The obituary, August 20, 1969. The Times's Times's obituary credits the "open sesame to low society" remark to Damon Runyon, suggesting that perhaps Runyon used it first. obituary credits the "open sesame to low society" remark to Damon Runyon, suggesting that perhaps Runyon used it first."A card of membership ...": Johnston, "The Cauliflower King-I," The New The New Yorker Yorker, April 8, 1933, 24.Moreover, he wasn't making: Establishing with any precision when Mickey returned to Cleveland is difficult. Ben Hecht writes that Mickey returned in 1932/3, which would make any meeting with Al Capone himself unlikely, given Capone's 1931 conviction for income tax evasion. However, a document in the Newberry Library's Hecht Papers that was apparently prepared by Mickey himself says he returned to Cleveland at age seventeen, which would have been the year 1930.Unlike New York City: Moe Dalitz had established important relations with the various Italian gangs that held sway over different parts of Cleveland, but he had not yet made Cleveland his primary base of operations.Great Depression or no: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 15-16.Cohen's job in Chicago: Ben Hecht presents a somewhat different account of this incident, saying that Mickey was given a "louse book" to operate, one that catered to ten-and twenty-cent horse bettors, on the North Side. Quoting Cohen, Hecht writes, "The first thing I know a Chicago tough guy calls on me where I'm running my little louse book and says he has been engaged for twenty dollars to put the muscle on me. I don't ask who engaged him but I said, 'I'm going to give you a chance to prove you're a tough guy.' And I pulled my gun. In that time I would of felt undressed if I wasn't carryin' a gun. The tough guy ran behind a door and I blasted him through the door which is the last I saw of him.""After that meeting,...": Reid also claims that Mickey didn't arrive in Chicago until well after Al Capone's 1931 arrest. However, the volume and detail of Cohen's recollections from this period make it doubtful that his Chicago recollections were entirely fabricated.
Chapter Six: Comrade Bill"With few exceptions": Wickersham Commission, Nos. 1-14, 43.Hollywood was Los Angeles's fast: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," 88, quoting Bob Shuler's Magazine Bob Shuler's Magazine."Listen, you stupid fuck,": Jennings, "Portrait of a Police Chief," 87.Despite such obstinacy: In 1930, the written examination accounted for 95 percent of officers' scores, with marksmanship and seniority accounting for the remaining 5 percent. Memorandum to the general manager civil service, "Subject: Facts on Chief Parker's Exam Records," June 1, 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. This memo provides a comprehensive overview of Parker's history in the department."Take him someplace and ...": Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 85."I got out,": Stump, "L.A.'s Chief Parker."By 1929, Los Angeles: One of the more startling features of this era is the widespread acceptance of the Klan, which permeated 1920s Los Angeles. Throughout this period, the Police Commission, which was responsible for regulating a wide variety of public events, routinely approved a regular Saturday night Ku Klux Klan dance on Santa Monica Boulevard. Palmer, "Porter or Bonelli for City's Next Mayor," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1929, B1.To block the Klansman: Sitton, John Randolph Haynes John Randolph Haynes, 218. Parrot retired to Santa Barbara and effectively withdrew from politics. In the mid-1930s, the Los Angeles papers would attempt to resurrect the specter of Parrot; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 311.That the LAPD: In 1919, the Boston police department became the first police force to attempt to affiliate with the American Federation of Labor. When officers went on strike, a week of chaotic looting and rioting ensued. Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge called in the National Guard to secure the city. Coolidge then dismissed the eleven hundred officers who had walked off their jobs, a show of resolution that paved the way to his successful run for the White House. Afterward, Boston hired a new police department and granted its officers almost all of the benefits the strikers had originally demanded.The issue that drew: In 1931, the Fire and Police Protective League tried again and was able to persuade the electorate to amend the charter to specify that officers could only be dismissed for "good cause." It also gave officers accused of misdeeds a chance to appear before a board of inquiry consisting of three captains, randomly chosen. Again, the practical results were disappointing. Captains were not exactly eager to challenge the chief or his superiors. Town Hall, "A Study of the Los Angeles City Charter," 116-17, 108-109.In 1934, Parker got: Leadership of the union was divided evenly between the police department, which named two police representatives, a sergeant representative, a lieutenant representative, and a captain or higher representative to the organization's board, and the fire department, which named two firemen, an engineer, a captain, and a chief representative to the board. These elections were not exactly democratic exercises. According to former Deputy Chief Harold Sullivan, the lieutenants exercised great control over police activities on the board, which makes Parker's election all the more mysterious. Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 7, 2007, Los Angeles, CA.In the summer of 1934: See City Council Minutes, August 14, 1934, pp. 234-35.The city council seems: City Council Meetings, vol. 248, August 14, 1934, pp. 235-36; City Council Minutes, August 15, 1934, p. 269, for the final text of Amendment No. 12-A. The city council also debated an amendment to abolish the Police Commission that day. It narrowly lost.The public was not: Carte and Carte, Police Reform in the United States Police Reform in the United States, 105.Some observers did pick: City Council Minutes, vol. 249 (October 5, 1934), 18. The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times misreports the vote count as 83,521 ayes to 83,244 nayes. "Complete Vote Received for Thursday's Election," misreports the vote count as 83,521 ayes to 83,244 nayes. "Complete Vote Received for Thursday's Election," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1934, 5.
For further discussions of Section 202, see also Escobar, "Bloody Christmas," 176-77.Union activism is not: Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 22-23. The quote comes from the Harold Story Papers, Special Collections, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.Even at the time: Nathan, "'Rousting' System Earns Curses of the Rum-Runners, Chief Davis's Raids Keep Whiskey Ring in Harried State," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1926, B6.Nor were regular citizens: LAPD officers were deputized by the counties in question and thus authorized to make arrests. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 342; Bass and Donovan, "The Los Angeles Police Department" in The Development of Los Angeles City Government: An Institutional History, 1850-2000 The Development of Los Angeles City Government: An Institutional History, 1850-2000, 154."It is an axiom with ...": Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 53; Henstell, Sunshine and Wealth Sunshine and Wealth, 50. Both may well be quoting Gerald Woods, who in turn is almost certainly quoting an unidentified article in the L.A. Record L.A. Record.But as implausible as: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 322, 259.In 1934, Chief Davis: See "Facts on Chief Parker's Exam Records," Assistant General Manager Civil Service, June 1, 1966, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives, Los Angeles, CA.Then, suddenly, his career: See Deputy Chief B. R. Caldwell's letter to HQ, Los Angeles Procurement District, February 23, 1943, for a detailed (if occasionally opaque) discussion of Parker's career from 1933 through 1943. William H. Parker Police Foundation, Los Angeles, CA. See also Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 28.In 1933, voters had: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 316-17; Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 12-13.During the 1920s, Kent: Kooistra, "Angeles for Sale," provides an excellent account of McAfee's activities throughout the 1930s. See also the October 9, 1953, FBI memo on Jack Dragna (Dragna FBI file 94-250); Weinstock, My L.A. My L.A., 56; and Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 335.The key to it all: Donner, The Age of Surveillance The Age of Surveillance, 59-64.
Chapter Seven: Bugsy"Booze barons;" "Are Gangsters Building Another Chicago Here?" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 29,1931, A1.By 1937, Bugsy Siegel: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 29-31. Readers interested in a more sober assessment of Siegel should consult Robert Lacey's Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life.Siegel first visited Los Angeles: In addition to appearing as a dancer in vaudeville shows and on Broadway, Raft was also a regular presence at Jimmy Durante's Club Durante and at Texas Guinan's El Fey. This did not mean that Raft himself was in any way fey. In addition to being a sometime prizefighter, he was a close associate of Manhattan beer king Owney Madden. Such tough guy-showbiz connections were quite common in the 1920s. Bootlegger Waxey Gordon was an enthusiastic backer of such Broadway musicals as Strike Me Pink Strike Me Pink, even going so far as to order his gunmen to turn out in tuxedos for opening night. (Wisely, he also had them check their guns at the coat check.) Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 159.He was receptive: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 160-64, discusses Siegel's post-Prohibition quasilegitmacy (and stock market troubles). See also Lacey, Little Man Little Man, 68, 79-80.Siegel's lifestyle reflected his: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 27, 30."Caution, fathered by the ...": Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 161.Los Angeles offered the: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 157-62. Siegel himself sometimes put the date of his arrival in Los Angeles one year later, in 1935. "Siegel Denies Buchalter Aid: Film Colony Figure Testifies on Removal Fight," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1941, A1."If I had kept...": Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 36-38; Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 162-65.Bugsy's pals back East: See Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 1, Hecht Papers, New-berry Library; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 41.One who declined to: A 2 percent take would have generated a healthy $200,000 a year in bookie action-not bad for the Great Depression. Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 4-5, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Cohen had outstayed his: In his autobiography, Cohen claims that he didn't take a dive (30). In his earlier conversations with Ben Hecht, however, he admitted that he did. Cohen manuscript, 19, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Mickey was living like: Taxi companies routinely employed violence to secure the best stands. Payoffs to police were also common. In Los Angeles, independent cabbies' frustration with the dominant Yellow Cab company (which was widely believed to have struck a deal with the police) boiled over into full-scale riots on more than one occasion in the 1930s. Cohen manuscript, 21-23, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library."I says": Hecht manuscript, 82-84 Hecht Papers, Newberry Library; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 36-37.The next day Mickey: This account draws heavily on Ben Hecht's account and is strikingly different from the blustering story Mickey tells in his autobiography. Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.(Years later, columnist Florabel...): Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 45.Cohen hit Neales's joints: Notes in the Ben Hecht Papers suggest that Siegel paid the sheriff's department $125,000 on at least one occasion. Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 4, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. In the early 1950s, the California Commission on Organized Crime discovered links between Sheriff Biscailuz and Irving Glasser, a notorious bondsman closely associated with Siegel and Cohen. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 402.Soon after: Cohen manuscript, n.p., Hecht Papers, Newberry Library."Ya know, I'm going ...": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 41."It was a bad ...": Unpublished manuscript, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.During his first: Hecht manuscript, 9-10, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.This attitude angered Mickey: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 41.
Chapter Eight: Dynamite"We've got to get": Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 224.In a city awash: McWilliams, Southern California Southern California, 170.Clinton had always been: "Penny Money At Cafe: Clinton 'Caveteria' Caters to Customers of Lean Purse," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1932, A8. See also Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 165-66.Clinton's introduction to politics: Ford, Honest Politics My Theme Honest Politics My Theme, 86-87, 90.The county grand jury: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 339, 351.Clinton turned to Judge: The case was one of statutory rape; the victim was actually a prostitute supplied by a madam who specialized in underage girls. In the lead-up to Fitts's decision not to prosecute, one of the developer's employees arranged to purchase property from the DA's parents for a strikingly generous price. Fitts's investigators then prevented the girl in question from testifying by holding her in isolation in a downtown hotel. Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 176.The report was scathing: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 35657; Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 168-69; Parrish, For the People For the People, 127.The counterreaction was: McDougal, Privileged Son Privileged Son, 44; Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 169. For more evidence of Fitts's thuggery, see Richardson's account of when a Fitts investigator jabbed a gun in his belly, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 177.Clinton came under pressure: Starr, The Dream Endures The Dream Endures, 169; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 355.The Shaws weren't: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 261, 357. See Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 220, for a more positive assessment of Raymond.Then Raymond himself got: Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 16-17. Gerald Woods speculated that Raymond was targeted for a hit out of fear that he might testify to the Combination's connections with the Shaw machine in the upcoming trial of Shaw campaign assistant (and former Police Commission member) Harry Munson (357-58). Tom Sitton finds evidence that Raymond also approached the Combination with a shakedown request.On the morning of: Underwood, Newspaperwoman Newspaperwoman, 175."They told me they ...": Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 221-22.The next morning, Raymond's: See Weinstock, My L.A. My L.A., 56-57, for an account of the connections between Raymond, Clinton, and the Combination; Sit-ton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 17-18.Chief Davis's career: Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 77-78.In April 1938, the: Underwood, Newspaperwoman Newspaperwoman, 176-78.Davis parried that everyone: "Davis Defends Police Spying at Bombing Trial, Bitter Clashes Mark Chief's Day on Stand," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1941, 1. See also Domanick, To Protect and to Serve To Protect and to Serve, 76; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 361; and "The Case of Earl Kynette," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, July 8, 1966.One year earlier, Mayor: See Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 18-23, for the definitive account of the race.In theory, thanks to: Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 32.Despite his closeness to: "Chief Shifts 28 Officers in New Shake-Up of Police," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 9, 1939, 2.A few days later: Gambling ships first appeared off the coast as early as 1923, but it was Tony Cornero who had the audacity to reconceive of them as floating casinos. He would die of a heart attack eighteen years later at a craps table in Las Vegas, just months before he, Milton "Farmer" Page, and other Combination figures finished building the world's largest casino, The Stardust. At Cornero's request, a band played "The Wabash Cannonball" at his funeral. Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 227.There was just one: "Chief Shifts 28 Officers in New Shake-Up of Police," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 9, 1939, 2.Mayor Bowron was exultant.: Richardson, For the Life of Me For the Life of Me, 219-28; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 367.Yet the triumph of: Los Angeles's city charter sharply curtailed the power of the mayor. City departments operated under the control of general managers who enjoyed civil-service protection and who answered to independent boards of commissioners. Mayors enjoyed only the right to nominate commissioners (who then had to be approved by the city council), though mayors frequently sought to expand their authority by demanding written resignations in advance. Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 370.In theory, promotion in: Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007.The acting chief of: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 371.One hundred seventy-one: See William H. Parker Police Foundation archives for this and other Civil Service board notices.From the first, Bill: Letter of recommendation from Inspector E. B. Caldwell, Parker Foundation archives; "Police Due for Shake-up Tomorrow, Chief Announces: New Divisions Will Be Organized and Shifts Made of Many Uniformed Officers in Sweeping Program," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1939. See also Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 84.Demoralized by his de facto: Letter from Caldwell to HQ Los Angeles Officer Procurement District, February 23, 1939, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.
Chapter Nine: Getting Away with Murder (Inc.)"Men who have lived": Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 161.District Attorney Buron Fitts: Central Avenue played an important and unique role in Los Angeles politics. During the 1920s, its large and fast-growing African American population emerged as one of the only reliable voting blocks in the city. A handful of political bosses controlled many of these votes and were sometimes able to demand considerable freedom for illicit activities, a situation that greatly frustrated African American progressives like Charlotta Bass Hayes, publisher of the California Eagle California Eagle. Parrish, For the People For the People, 127; Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 347."You never heard of...": Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 60.Bugsy Siegel was was one: Jennings, one: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 27.The next day the: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 167-69; Richardson, For the Life of For the Life of Me Me, 4-5.Mickey and Bugsy: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 58."I found Benny a ...": Later (much later) Cohen would circulate stories of how he'd stood up to "the Bug" at their first meeting (while generally omitting the story of what happened to him as a result). Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 38. Cohen's comments to Ben Hecht in the mid-1950s make it clear that even at his craziest, Mickey knew how powerful Siegel was. Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.It was an arrangement: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 36.Only after the countess: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 74-78, provides a somewhat fanciful account of this episode.The evening before Thanksgiving: "Widow of Victim Heard at Murder Trial of Siegel: Heard Shots Killing Mate," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, January 27, 1942, A1; "Siegel and Carbo Identified as Murder Aides, Tannenbaum Tells Killing," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, January 28, 1942, A1.Abe "Kid Twist" Reles: Turkus and Feder, Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc., 52.In January 1940, two: Nash, World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime, 331.It took twelve days: Turkus and Feder, Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc., 67.Reles wasn't prosecutors' only: "Murder Plot Story Filed: Testimony Transcript in Siegel Case Gives Gang," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 31, 1940, A1.The raiding party-three: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 47-48.Bugsy's bed was still: "Siegel's Attic Capture Told, Witnesses at Death Trial Describe Hunt in Suspect's Mansion," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1942, A1. See also Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 100-101; Muir, Happy Holidays Happy Holidays, 176-77.Dockweiler was in a: Dean Jennings argues that O'Dwyer was on the take (We Only Kill Each Other Only Kill Each Other, 121). Jerry Giesler argued that prosecutors in L.A. were on the take (The Jerry Giesler Story (The Jerry Giesler Story, 237-38).Back in New York: "Plunge Fatal to Gangster, State Witness Against Buchalter and Others Attempts to Escape," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 13, 1941, 2.What had happened to: "Abe Reles Killed Trying to Escape, Sheet Rope Fails After He Lowers Himself from 6th to 5th Floor, Motive Puzzles Police," New York Times New York Times, November 13, 1941, 29. Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 128-29, makes the case for defenestration.Without Reles, the prosecution's: Giesler, The Jerry Giesler Story The Jerry Giesler Story, 239-40.But Robinson: For an assessment of his gang and an account of the meeting, see Hecht notes, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago."The poor bookmakers": Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago."Dragna was inactive at: Cohen would later claim that he had been attuned to the danger of a resentful Dragna all along (In My Own Words (In My Own Words, 63). This is the wisdom of hindsight.Sica did. Then he: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 62.Utley took it bravely: "Report Hints Cohen Had Part in Slayings," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1959; "Mad Gunman Captured, Mickey Cohen Tells Inside Story of L.A.," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 18, 1950, 1.Jack Dragna was less: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 63-64.
Chapter Ten: L.A. Noir"If you're going to ...": Wilkerson III, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, 12.Bugsy Siegel wasn't: For more on Hohmann, see Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 84; and Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 380.Hohmann had been: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 381.As chief, Hohmann had: "Special Police Groups Press Fight on Crime, Cities Combat Increased Felonies with Crack Units; in Los Angeles It's 'Metro,'" Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, February, 23, 1964.Bill Parker was demoralized: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 420.JAPS OPEN WAR ON: AP headline immediately following Pearl Harbor. AP headline immediately following Pearl Harbor.The situation was actually: The guns at Fort MacArthur, which was supposed to protect the U.S. naval station at San Pedro/Long Beach, would have been useless against a carrier-based aerial attack. Verge, Paradise Transformed Paradise Transformed, 33-34, 22."Why, the Japanese bombed ...": Verge, Paradise Transformed Paradise Transformed, 22; author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007. Concerns about Japanese fishing vessels reflected well-founded worries about Japanese espionage. Since at least 1939, the Japanese military had used Mexican-based fishing vessels to monitor the Pacific fleet based at Long Beach. That same year, Japanese agents had recruited a Nisei former sailor as an intelligence agent and managed to steal important code books. Verge, Paradise Transformed Paradise Transformed, 10.
The efficiency of the operation was no coincidence. One official involved in the raid told the Times Times, "Although we had our plans set, the Japanese attack caught us a bit early." "Japanese Aliens' Roundup Starts: F.B.I. Hunting Down 300 Subversives and Plans to Hold 3000 Today," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1941, 1; "Round Up of Japanese Aliens in Southland Now Totals 500: Officers, Working with F.B.I., Continue Hunt; Asiatic, Who Had Pledged Loyalty, Found with Guns," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1941, 4; "Little Tokyo Banks and Concerns Shut, Even Saloons Padlocked; Extra Police on Duty to Prevent Riots," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1941, 4.For once, Bill Parker: Verge, Paradise Transformed Paradise Transformed, 23-24.Parker's thoughts turned to: Captain Robert L. Dennis to HQ, Los Angeles Officer Procurement District, February 23, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.However, Hohmann continued, these: Arthur Hohmman to HQ Los Angeles Officer Procurement District, February 19, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. The conclusion of Hohmann's letter also suggests that Hohmann may have personally blocked Parker's earlier attempts to enlist in the military, which if true would be another interesting twist in what was clearly a complex relationship.His mood improved considerably: Col. Jesse Miller, Director, Military Government Division, to First Lt. William Parker, May 11, 1943, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. For Parker's impressions of New England, see his June 30, 1943, letter to Helen, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.It was, Mickey thought: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 65.In Algeria, Parker was: Brig. Gen. J. K. Dunlop, Regional Allied Commissioner, letter of reference, January 15, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.There was, however, one: Letter to Helen Parker, March 12, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.For Mickey Cohen, the: The $500,000 estimates came from Carey McWilliams, Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, and puts his take at $120,000 a year.Mickey had his own: Cohen would later estimate that his was one of approximately two hundred major bookmaking commission offices nationwide at the time. Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Things were going so: The de jure owner of the stock farm was actually a former LAPD officer, Jack Dineen. California Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950, 32.Meyer and Bugsy had: Lacey, Little Big Man Little Big Man, 79-81.In 1931, the state: Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 292.Wilkerson was the publisher: Weller, Dancing at Ciro's Dancing at Ciro's, 88-89.So Wilkerson decided to: Wilkerson III, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, 49. For a judicious account of Bugsy Siegel's much smaller role in the creation of Las Vegas, see Johnson, "Siegel, Bugsy." See also Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 193-94.The invasion of Normandy: Related in letter to Helen, September 9, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.Lt. Parker Wins Purple: "Lt. Parker Wins Purple Heat," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1944, 2.For Parker, one brush: Verge, Paradise Transformed Paradise Transformed, 113-14.I respectfully submit that: "Memorandum for the Adjutant General, Subject: Relief from Active Duty," undated, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives."So now I come: Bill Parker to Helen, October 8, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.That Helen's initial response: In her address book, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.Parker's retreat was swift: Parker letter to Helen, December 10, 1944, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.On February 24, 1945: The tiffs, of course, continued. Within a matter of weeks, Bill was writing somewhat carping letters complaining of the quality of Helen's letters. Almost none of Helen's letters have survived, making it difficult to evaluate this claim.Parker's first assignment in: Parker letter to Helen, May 26, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives."All my life I...": Parker letter to Helen, undated but from Frankfurt, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.In fact, the LAPD: C. B. Horrall to Capt. W H. Parker, June 26, 1945, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. Parker's July 19, 1945, letter to Helen contains details of Parker's deliberations with Colonel Wilson, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.The Los Angeles business: McDougal, Privileged Son Privileged Son, 2, 176.Parker also tended to: "W. H. Parker Heads Fire Police League," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner, January 7, 1949.The group mentioned that: Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007.In the spring of 1947: "Parker's the One in '51, Los Angeles Police Post 381, American Legion, Unanimously Presents William H. 'Bill' Parker for the Office of COMMANDER COMMANDER of of THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT of of CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA, for the Year 1951-52," August 1950 (Number Three), William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. See also "Police Post Gets Membership Drive Trophy," L.A. Fire and Police Protective League News L.A. Fire and Police Protective League News, 1947, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.
Chapter Eleven: The Sporting Life"[T]o be honest with ...": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 81.First, there were: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 51-52.So much for "the: See Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 57, for an account of the killing. The January 1950 study of the state of California's Special Crime Study Commission report said that the LAPD suspected "Hooky" Rothman and Joseph "Scotty" Ellenberg of being the gunmen, although they never found evidence to arrest and prosecute them (13). Mob figure Jimmy Fratianno identified Rothman as the triggerman (Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 25). The excrement anecdote comes from Anderson, Beverly Hills Is Beverly Hills Is My Beat My Beat, 137.When Mickey swung by: The shooting occurred on May 15, 1945. See Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 71-73. Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, offers very different accounts (53-54).Still, it was a: The date of these dice games is uncertain. Later news accounts suggest they may have occurred in the late forties. See "Cohen Admits Big Gambling Take in Hotel Dice Games," Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune, 3. Intriguingly, this article also notes that from 1947 onward, the Ambassador was owned by J. Myer Schine, whose son, David Schine, emerged in the 1950s as an intimate of Senator McCarthy's chief investigator, Roy Cohn. Cohn, a bitter opponent of Robert Kennedy, would later become a prominent organized crime defense lawyer."I'd like to see ...": Hecht, A Child of the Century A Child of the Century, 610-11.Tell "em they're a...": Hecht, A Child of the Century A Child of the Century, 612.Wilkerson was right.: Muir, Headline Happy Headline Happy, 190-91; Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 295.At issue was the: May, "The History of the Race Wire Service."Bugsy knew the boys: Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 144-45; Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 79; Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 198-210.After talking to Cohen: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other We Only Kill Each Other, 208-9."The people in the ...": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 81."The LAPD had already: "Capt. Jack Donahoe of Police Retires, Handled Many Famous Cases," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 8, 1962, B1."One of the finest...": Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8.In the fall of: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8-9; Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 38.What they heard was: For more on Howser's checkered career, see Warren Olney, "Law Enforcement and Judicial Administration in the Earl Warren Era," Earl Warren Oral History Project, University of California, 1981; "Hidden Microphones Hear Cohen Secrets, Police Device Records Intimate Talks in Home," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1949, 1.
Chapter Twelve: The Double Agent"The heart is deceitful": Jeremiah 17:9, King James Bible.Vaus first started: Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 18-21."Come back tomorrow night...": Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 18-20. See also Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 82-86.Prostitution in Hollywood has: Rasmussen, "History of Hollywood Madams Is Long, Lurid," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1997, B3.Charles Stoker had first: Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 23; Stoker, Thicker 'n Thieves Thicker 'n Thieves, 81.When Stoker got back: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 85-87.Allen unleashed a stream: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 91.Stoker had no: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 94-95.Two facts: Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 30-34, 36-46, 52.Vaus had never been: Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 37."No cop had a": Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 39.Vaus had told Cohen: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 94.In August 1947, Parker: Stoker provides the sole account of this meeting (142-43). Given the questions that would later emerge about his motivations and veracity, it should be treated with caution.Stoker felt uneasy about: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 222-23.Soon after Stoker's: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 181-85, 187-90.So Stoker agreed to: Stoker's account of this meeting (186-88) and indeed this period is intensely controversial. Parker himself would later completely disavow Stoker's account of events, even claiming by late 1949 that Sgt. Elmer Jackson's involvement with Brenda Allen was in fact a frame-up. Yet certain parts of Stoker's account ring true. First, the evidence against Sergeant Jackson (though not the chief himself) seems strong. Second, the picture of Parker Stoker presents has notable similarities to that presented by Fred Otash, another maverick LAPD officer, in his book, Investigation Hollywood! Investigation Hollywood!. Other figures who knew Parker well likewise believe that he was prepared to use the kinds of extreme tactics described by Stoker to become chief.On May 31, 1949: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 407.There was also the: "CONVICT DESCRIBES KILLING BY L.A. COP: "CONVICT DESCRIBES KILLING BY L.A. COP: Slaying of 'Peewee' Lewis Described at San Quentin," Slaying of 'Peewee' Lewis Described at San Quentin," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, June 7, 1949.The revelations streamed forth: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 407.Just when a narrative: Audre Davis's later arrest certainly doesn't bolster her credibility. Nonetheless, historian Gerald Woods insists that prosecutors had developed "a strong circumstantial case against [Stoker]." The county grand jury thought otherwise; it declined to convict Stoker. See also, "Policewoman Implicates Sgt. Stoker in Burglary Love for Vice Squad Man Admitted by Audrey [sic] [sic] Davis," Davis," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1949.At first, Mayor Bowron: "Police Commission Commends Horrall: Full Confidence in Chief and Staff Expressed in Written Statement," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1947. One month later, on July 27, Chief Horrall, Asst. Chief Joe Reed, and Capt. Cecil Wisdom were indicted for perjury. Sergeant Jackson and Lieutenant Wellpott were also indicted on perjury and for accepting bribes. However, none of the men were ultimately convicted. In retrospect, the case against Chief Horrall, who was known for his strikingly hands-off management style, seems weakest. He was almost surely innocent. As for Sergeant Jackson and his associates, the most accurate verdict would be "not proven." Woods, "The Progressive and the Police," 408.Faced with a public: See Benis Frank, interviewer, "Oral History Transcript: General William Worton," 307.
Chapter Thirteen: Internal Affairs"I'll be damned if...": See Benis Frank, interviewer, "Oral History Transcript: General William Worton," 310.Like other departments, the: Chief Davis eventually handed over a list of 7,800 people who'd received badges. It included such luminaries as Shirley Temple (a Davis favorite), King Vidor, Louis B. Mayer, and Bela Lugosi. Larry Harnisch, "Mayor Investigates Honorary L.A.P.D. Badges," October 28, 1938, Daily Mirror blog Daily Mirror blog, accessed October 28, 2008.The primary purpose of: See Benis Frank, interviewer, "Oral History Transcript: General William Worton," 309.To Sgt. Charles Stoker: Stoker, Thicker'N Thieves Thicker'N Thieves, 222; "New Police Chief on Job, to tell Program in Week," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 1, 1949, 1; Daryl Gates, Chief Chief, 15.It was, thought Gates: Author interview with Daryl Gates, December 10, 2004.That Bill Parker was: "Chief Names Staff Inspector in Top Level Police Changes: Parker Given Number Two Post," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1949, 1.For decades, vice and: "Police Shift Offices Due to City Hall Jam," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1949, 2.General Worton and his: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 40910; "Ex-Marine Tightened Up Los Angeles Police," Chicago Sun-Times Chicago Sun-Times, March 12, 1952.General Worton was also: "Novice Chief Brings New Confidence ...," San Francisco Call-Bulletin San Francisco Call-Bulletin, May 10, 1995."He would be": Author interview with Bob Rock, December 10, 2004, Los Angeles, CA.Parker moved decisively too: "Police Officer Keyes Resigns Under Attack," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1942."Well then go fuck ...": "'Innocent' in Cussing, Says Mickey Cohen," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, August 31, 1949.Within weeks, his name: Server, Baby, I Don't Care Baby, I Don't Care, 166, 203-204. See also "Americana," Time Time, January 31, 1949. Mitchum's conviction on drug possession charges was overturned in 1951, which suggests that the accusations against Mickey may well have been true.With Mickey on the: Warren was backed up by five high-powered commissioners: former U.S. ambassador to Russia Adm. William H. Standley; former Union Pacific president William M. Jeffers; mining magnate Harvey Mudd; Gen. Kenyon Joyce, onetime deputy president of the Allied Control Commission for Italy; and Gerald H. Hagar, Oakland, past president of the Star Bar. "Warren Picks First of Crime Commissions: Jeffers and Mudd Among Those Named Under New State Law," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, October 22, 1947."Bookmaking has nothing to ...": Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 288.This system was: California Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950.Olney realized that there: Special Crime Study Commission report, March 17, 1949, 72, 79-80.The interruption of the: Special Crime Study Commission report, March 7, 1949, 16-25.Mickey accepted the fact: In fact, by the late 1940s, Anthony Milano, under-boss of the Mayfield Street gang during Mickey's Cleveland days and brother to Cleveland mob boss Frank Milano, lived virtually around the corner from Mickey, in an imposing private residence off Sunset Boulevard. Ostensibly, Milano was now the president of an eastern bank (a six-year-sentence stint in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth evidently posing no obstacles to a career in finance). In practice, the LAPD noted that he was in contact with Mickey on an almost daily basis. Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950, 29-30.
Ovid Demaris's book The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, which presents Jimmy Fratianno's perspective on the period, suggests that Mickey was genuinely surprised by efforts to rub him out. Not everyone agrees. Rob Wagner's Red Ink, White Lies Red Ink, White Lies argues that Cohen rejected Syndicate demands to share his underworld profits, thus triggering an entirely predictable gang war (229). argues that Cohen rejected Syndicate demands to share his underworld profits, thus triggering an entirely predictable gang war (229).The trouble started: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 95-100. There are multiple accounts of exactly what happened with the photographs. See also Jennings, "The Private Life of a Hood," conclusion, October 11, 1958, 114.Rist and his associates: "Bowron Asks Grand Jury Action in Police Scandal, Two Officers Suspended; Cohen Posts $100,000 Bail," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 23, 1949, 1.In the world of: Mickey's experiences in Cleveland contributed greatly to his multicultural precociousness. In the early thirties, the Cleveland underworld had been divided between two essentially cooperative groups, the Italian May-field Road gang, run by "Big Al" Polizzi, and the Jewish Cleveland Syndicate, whose leaders included Louis Rothkopf, Moe Dalitz, and Morris Kleinman. These two groups worked together closely in what was known as the Combination. Interestingly, during his days in Cleveland, Mickey had worked primarily with the Italian gangsters, particularly Mayfield Road gang underboss Tony Milano. Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 8-9.Far from responding gratefully: Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 24.
Chapter Fourteen: The Evangelist"He has the making ...": "Jigs and Judgments," Time Time, July 23, 1951."A few nights": Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 71-72.By November 1949, everyone: "Heaven, Hell & Judgment Day," Time Time, March 20, 1950.Suddenly, Vaus found himself: Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 8, 1949; Vaus, Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime Why I Quit... Syndicated Crime, 71-76.It was with some: Life Life, January 16, 1950; "Portrait of a Punk," Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan.
It is difficult to know how much financial pain Mickey was really feeling. In an article written several months after Vaus's visit with Cohen, one of the most astute observers of the Southern California scene, lawyer/journalist Carey McWilliams, estimated that Mickey was receiving payoffs in the amount of $427,000 a year. Given the fact that the state public utility commission had effectively choked off the wire service that was once the most profitable part of Mickey's portfolio, that number seems high. Columnist Florabel Muir, who was close to Mickey and had excellent sources in the underworld, believed that Cohen was under real financial pressure. Of course, Mickey had other activities-extortion, slot machines, perhaps narcotics-which undoubtedly helped offset at least some of the pain."Mickey lifted his hand": See Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 106-107, for an account of the meeting. Sensitive to charges that he had considered betraying his faith, Cohen plays down the conversion angle. Compare Cohen's account with Graham's, "The New Evangelist," Time Time cover story, October 25, 1954. cover story, October 25, 1954.At 4:15 a.m. on February: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 137; Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 40.Police later estimated that: Leppard, "Mr. Lucky Thrives on Borrowed Time," Los Angeles Herald-Express Los Angeles Herald-Express, December 3, 1959.During the fall of: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 411-12.These were powerful backers: Author interview with Daryl Gates, December 10, 2004.The race was now: Webb, The Badge The Badge, 250-52.On August 2: "Parker Appointed New Police Chief Head, Patrol Division Head Promoted in Climax to Hot Battle Over Worton's Successor," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1950, 1. See also Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 418. In describing Parker as the LAPD's fortieth police chief, I discount Dr. Alexander Hope, who headed the volunteer Los Angeles Rangers (Sjoquist, History of the Los Angeles Police Department History of the Los Angeles Police Department, 36). I also count previous chiefs who served more than one term, such as James E. Davis, only once.Mayor Bowron was notably: Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1950. Later that day, Bowron issued a more positive statement on the Parker appointment."I know I'm supposedly ...": "Los Angeles Police Chief: William Henry Parker 3d," New York Times New York Times, August 114, 1965, 8.
Chapter Fifteen: "Whiskey Bill""There is a sinister ...": Kefauver Committee report, quoted in Turking and Feder, Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc., 426.It had been a: Mickey would later deny being held overnight. "That was always newspaper bullshit," he claimed. "They'd say to me, 'How long ya going to be in town?' I'd say, 'I'm leaving at such and such a time on Wednesday.' So they'd give the story to the newspapers that, 'We ordered him to leave town by Wednesday'" (In My Own Words My Own Words, 147). This is probably boasting.A freshman senator from: Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 259.At some point in: Moore, The Kefauver Committee and the Politics of Crime The Kefauver Committee and the Politics of Crime, 1950-52, 49. See also Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 251-52.The killing itself was: "Truman Speeds War on Crime; Mickey Cohen Pay-off Charged, Racketeers' Tax Returns to Be Eyed," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1951, 1."Lookit, nobody notified me ...": Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 148; Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 255."I ain't never muscled ...": "I Ain't Never ...," Time Time, November 27, 1950.Other Mob bosses had: Dragna's legitimate businesses included a 538-acre vineyard near Puente and a Panama-flagged frigate that shuttled bananas between Long Beach and Panama. Special Crime Study Commission report, January 31, 1950, 25-26. For Mickey's legitimate holdings, see "Portrait of a Punk," Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan. The Kefauver Commission was particularly well informed about Mickey because its chief investigator, Harold Robinson, had come from Warren Olney's special crime study commission. Warren Olney, "Law Enforcement and Judicial Administration," 297.Anyone who bothered to: Calculations come from the Final Report of the Special Crime Study Commission, November 15, 1950, 37.This should have led: Final Report of the Special Crime Study Commission, November 15, 1950, 39.Mickey cracked his first: "MAD GUNMAN CAPTURED "MAD GUNMAN CAPTURED, Mickey Cohen Tells Inside Story of L.A., Bland Gangster Spars with Counsel in Quiz; Sheriff Also Testifies," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 18, 1950, 1.The audience chuckled: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 148.During Parker's first month: Webb, The Badge The Badge, 253.Parker argued that if: The idea for an interagency intelligence agency was not new. In the fall of 1947, District Attorney William Simpson, Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz, and Police Chief C. B. Horrall had announced the creation of a similar entity. "Police Network in 20 Cities to Keep Constant Tab on Mobs," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, November 11, 1947. However, Parker revived the idea and gave it a concerted push that previously had been lacking."This plan goes deeper ...": Webb, The Badge The Badge, 253.The assembled group was: "Parker Declares City Is White Spot of Nation," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1950."[W]e have become a ...": Parker, "Religion and Morality," in Parker on Parker on Police Police, 18.The idea of an: "Worton Shifts 33 in Police Shake-Up: Top Flight Officer Named Intelligence Aide to Chief in Reorganization Move," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1949. Earlier in his career, Worton himself had been a special intelligence officer in the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence. "Worton 'Man of the Year' in the Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror Mailbag Vote," December 30, 1949. Mailbag Vote," December 30, 1949.Parker shared Worton's enthusiasm: Chief Parker, for one, seems to have suspected this. Kefauver, Crime in America Crime in America, 241.The intelligence division didn't: Lieberman, "Crusaders in the Underworld: The LAPD Takes On Organized Crime," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2008."When Johnny saw the ...": Otash, Investigation Hollywood Investigation Hollywood, 184."We're selfish about it...": "Novice Chief Brings New Confidence San Francisco Call-Bulletin San Francisco Call-Bulletin, May 10, 1955.As Kefauver attempted to: Because Guarantee Finance operated as a "fifty-fifty book," with management and participating bookies sharing expenses, the cost of juice was almost certainly twice that figure-$216,000. Kefauver, Crime in America Crime in America, 240.Later that evening, at: Scene of the Crime Scene of the Crime, 126-27.Mickey was hustled off: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 150-51.But solving the case: The LAPD was right. However, the two Tonys were killed not because the police were closing in on them for the Rummell shooting-they had no involvement in that-but rather because the two men had recently heisted a big bookmaking operation in Las Vegas. Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 51-54."The Weasel" had an: Stump, "L.A.'s Chief Parker-America's Most Hated Cop," Cavalier Magazine Cavalier Magazine, July 1958. See also Demaris, The Last Mafioso The Last Mafioso, 56-60, for Fratianno's account of the interrogation.Parker moved quickly to: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 425-26."Well, get out," Parker: Gates, Chief Chief, Chapters One and Two. Gates's characterizations of Parker are often ungenerous, as when Gates describes Parker as "a stern, cantankerous man with a reputation as a bully" (25). Throughout the earlier pages of his memoir, Gates presents himself as an independent-minded rebel, eager to break free of Parker's tutelage. Yet in the version of Gates's memoirs annotated by Helen Parker (available for perusal at the William H. Parker Police Foundation) a very different and in some ways more plausible picture of the young Gates emerges as an officer whom Parker had to push out into the field. There is probably at least some truth to this alternative account.Fortunately, Daryl Gates was: Helen Parker would later deny claims that Parker was a heavy drinker, insisting that her husband simply enjoyed a cocktail or two at the end of the day. This claim can be set aside. Gates's testimony on this point is compelling and corroborated by others, such as Deputy Chief Harold Sullivan.As the Kefauver hearings: Gates, Chief Chief, 37. Other federal law enforcement agencies had likewise missed opportunities to go after the little gangster. The Bureau of Narcotics had identified Cohen's close associate, Joe Sica, as the principal supplier of heroin in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, but had failed to place him as a member of Cohen's inner circle. More curious still was the conduct of the FBI. While the bureau developed a large file on Cohen activities, it showed no inclination to develop a case it could take to prosecutors. This was entirely in keeping with the FBI's long-standing lack of interest in prosecuting organized crime, which director J. Edgar Hoover insisted was primarily local and thus a matter for local law enforcement to address.When Cohen himself appeared: "Cohen Deals Going Before Jury Today, Federal Inquirers Expected to Hear of Borrowings," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1951, A1.Cohen had long maintained: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 169. He ultimately sold it to the Texas Stock Car Racing Association instead. "Mickey Cohen Cashes In on His Glaring Notoriety," New York Times New York Times, April 3, 1951, 28.It was no use: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 169.The trial began on: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, n.p.The prosecution's strategy: "Cohen Profits Told as Tax Case Opens, Federal Prosecutor Attacks Gangster's Story of Loans," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1951, 2; Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, n.p.Perhaps the hardest to: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, n.p.At the end of: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 172-75; Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, n.p.The smoking gun: Jennings, "The Private Life of a Hood," conclusion, October 11, 1958, 116.Mickey interjected. "Right now, ...": Cohen would later claim that Sack-man had set him up. The supposed rationale for the double-cross had to do with the problems Sackman himself was experiencing with the revenue bureau in connection with the Guarantee Finance Company. By offering the bureau Cohen, Mickey believed that Sackman was trying to save himself. This theory may be true. During the sentencing, Judge Harris would go so far as to state that Cohen "had talked himself into this case" by giving the revenue bureau a false statement when he could simply have remained silent. "Mickey Cohen Gets 5 Years, $10,000 Fine," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1951, 1; Hill, "5-Year Term Given to Mickey Cohen; Judge Finds Gambler 'Not So Bad,'" New York Times New York Times, July 10, 1951, 1.A request: The description that follows comes from Cohen manuscript, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library."I am praying that...": "Jigs & Judgments," Time Time, July 23, 1951.One day in early: "Mickey Shifted to New Jail to End 'Privileges,' Crowding at County Bastille the Official Cause," Hollywood Citizen-News Hollywood Citizen-News, February 8,1952.Cohen was placed in: "Cohen 'Safe' in U.S. Cell, Moved to Federal Pen, Brutality By Police Told," Los Angeles Herald-Express Los Angeles Herald-Express, February 14, 1952."Mickey, my God, why: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Although their client was: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 124."Mickey is in": Hecht, "Mickey Notes," 9, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.
Chapter Sixteen: DragnetThe trouble arrived on: See Edward Escobar's definitive article, "Bloody Christmas and the Irony of Police Professionalism: The Los Angeles Police Department, Mexican Americans, and Police Reform in the 1950s," 171. This incident also inspired the opening scenes of the James Ellroy book (later movie) L.A. Confidential L.A. Confidential.From the perspective of: Said the arresting officer later, "Sure I hit him. He was kicking at me with his feet. I only used necessary force to subdue him." "Parker Clams Up on Jury Quiz," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, March 27, 1952; Escobar, "Bloody Christmas and the Irony of Police Professionalism," 187.Christmas was a special: Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007. The department would later insist, implausibly, that officers at Central station were consuming only ice cream, pie and cake, and coffee that evening. "'Cops So Drunk They Fought Each Other to Beat Us,'" Los Angeles Herald-Express Los Angeles Herald-Express, March 19, 1952.The prisoners were taken: "6 on Trial Tell More Police Brutalities," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, March 6, 1952. See also "Wild Party by 100 Police Described, Youth Tells of Beatings at Police Yule Party," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner, March 19, 1952; "'Cops So Drunk They Fought Each Other to Beat Us,'" Los Angeles Los Angeles Herald-Express Herald-Express, March 19, 1952; "Bare Yule Police Brutality Transcript," Los-Angeles Daily News Los-Angeles Daily News, May 13, 1952.Two months after the: Escobar, "Bloody Christmas," 185. "East side" was a phrase originally used to describe the area east of Main Street.Parker's initial response to: "Chief Shrugs at Claim of Cop Brutality, Police Brutality Gets Brush-off by Chief Parker," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, February 27, 1952; "Chief Parker Hits Brutality Stories," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, February 28, 1952. In Parker's defense, it should be noted that the particular cause of the chief's complaint-an allegation by a Latino doctor that a police officer had fired on him-did indeed prove to be unsubstantiated.The liberal Daily News: Los Angeles Times Daily News: Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1952.Local Democrats unanimously passed: "PARKER FORCED TO ACT ON BRUTALITY "PARKER FORCED TO ACT ON BRUTALITY, Cop Brutality Quiz Demanded by L.A. Judge," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, March 13, 1952; "F.B.I. Probing L.A. Police Brutality," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1952.Belatedly, Parker recognized the: See "Florabel Muir Reporting," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, March 14, 1953, for a column on the chief's change of heart.But Parker's story had: "Florabel Muir Reporting," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, March 20, 1952."Boys Tell Police Beating,": March 19, 1952; "An Inadequate Answer," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner editorial, May 2, 1952, describes the initial Internal Affairs' report, which found no evidence of abuse. editorial, May 2, 1952, describes the initial Internal Affairs' report, which found no evidence of abuse.Meanwhile, more reports of: "Move for Action on L.A. Police Brutality Charges," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, February 26, 1952; "Parker Clams Up on Jury Quiz," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, March 27, 1952.Parker's job was in: "Police Brutality Probe Is Overdue," Los Angeles Mir Los Angeles Mirror, March 14, 1952; Webb, The Badge The Badge, 174-75.The first threat to: "Grand Jury to Attack Police Trials System," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner, September 7, 1949; "Law for Policemen Took," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner, editorial, November 14, 1949.Of course, Chief Parker: See the March 28, 1953, untitled Daily News Daily News editorial for a rebuttal of these charges. editorial for a rebuttal of these charges.Pat Novak took the: Hayde, took the: Hayde, My Name's My Name's Friday, 13. See also Wikipedia, Friday, 13. See also Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pat_nuyak&equals$fur-hire.Jack Webb had grown: Unless otherwise noted, the biographical information that follows comes from Michael Hayde, My Name's Friday My Name's Friday. The chronology of events that led to this job offer is not entirely clear. Owen McClaine, the casting agent for He Walked by Night He Walked by Night, claims to have heard Webb's "private eye plays"-presumably, Pat Novak Pat Novak-and then offered him the job. But Jack Webb did not start playing the lead role in Pat Novak Pat Novak until 1949, when the program went national on ABC-one year after he appeared in until 1949, when the program went national on ABC-one year after he appeared in He Walked by Night He Walked by Night."I doubt it, Marty,": Hayde, My Name's Friday My Name's Friday, 18-19.Joe Friday (as played: See Raymond Chandler's essay "The Simple Art of Murder" for more on the noir hero.The radio program's success: "Real Thriller," Time Time, May 15, 1950.Soon after the tribute: A July 17, 1958, memo from the FBI's L.A. SAC to Hoover described Parker as a "Traffic Officer" prior to his appointment to the position of chief of police "with whom office had practically no contact."Whether Parker knew about: Hayde, My Name's Friday My Name's Friday, 31-33. See August 2, 1963, FBI memo, Parker FBI file, for the origins of the FBI feud. See December 4, 1951, memo from SAC, Los Angeles, to Director, FBI, for Parker's praise of Hoover.The episode aired on: Hayde, My Name's Friday My Name's Friday, 46.Parker's initial response to: On July 18, 1959, the FBI's San Francisco SAC sent a confidential memo to J. Edgar Hoover, reporting on a recent off-the-record confab Parker had held with Bay Area law enforcement officials about community relations that provides rare insight into the chief's thoughts about the Bloody Christmas affair. According to the SAC, Parker stated that "certain of his men were undoubtedly in the wrong." Parker further noted that "a number of his young officers were also wrong in 'clamming up' when his own inspectors attempted to investigate the beatings, and that had these officers not done this, the entire matter might in all probability have been settled within the department." Also author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007.Soon after his ill-received: "Parker Hints at Crackdown, Own Cleanup May Forestall Jury Action," Hollywood Citizen-News Hollywood Citizen-News, March 27, 1952; "Grand Jury Indicts Eight Officers in Beating Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1952; "Bloody Christmas-One Year Later," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror editorial, December 6, 1952. editorial, December 6, 1952.Parker went further: Webb, The Badge The Badge, 174-75; "36 L.A. Policemen Face Discipline for Brutality," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1952; "Grand Jury Turns Heat on Parker, Report Hits Police Dept. Conditions," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, April 2, 1952; "An Inadequate Answer," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner editorial, May 2, 1952. A July 29, 1952, memo from the L.A. SAC to Hoover asserted that Parker had not been popular in the department before the FBI's civil rights investigation commenced but that Parker's strong defense of the department had "earned him support since." Nonetheless, the SAC claimed that Parker's position "is still somewhat precarious" as "it is generally known that the Mayor is hostile to him, as are a number of the Los Angeles Police Commissioners." The following month Mayor Bowron would categorically deny any intention of removing Parker. "Bowron Denies Parker Ouster," editorial, May 2, 1952. A July 29, 1952, memo from the L.A. SAC to Hoover asserted that Parker had not been popular in the department before the FBI's civil rights investigation commenced but that Parker's strong defense of the department had "earned him support since." Nonetheless, the SAC claimed that Parker's position "is still somewhat precarious" as "it is generally known that the Mayor is hostile to him, as are a number of the Los Angeles Police Commissioners." The following month Mayor Bowron would categorically deny any intention of removing Parker. "Bowron Denies Parker Ouster," Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, May 27, 1952.Dragnet wasn't the only: A July 18, 1952, "confidential memo" from the FBI's San Francisco SAC to Director Hoover reports that the L.A. business community had also printed a brochure titled "The Thin Blue Line" to distribute to members of the public. Whether the phrase was first used for the pamphlet or for the TV show is unclear. wasn't the only: A July 18, 1952, "confidential memo" from the FBI's San Francisco SAC to Director Hoover reports that the L.A. business community had also printed a brochure titled "The Thin Blue Line" to distribute to members of the public. Whether the phrase was first used for the pamphlet or for the TV show is unclear.The purpose of: April 1, 1952, letter from Parker to the Police Commission, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives."Soviet Russia believes that ...": Parker, Parker on Police Parker on Police, 30. See also Charles Reith, The Blind Eye of History The Blind Eye of History, 209-23, for a viewpoint that profoundly influenced Parker.In this vital role: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 430.Parker thought the primary: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 429.One generation earlier, Berkeley: Parker, Parker on Police Parker on Police, 12.Hoover was determined to: See memorandum to Mr. DeLoach, December 12, 1960, for summary of bureau's relationship with Parker, Parker FBI files.
Chapter Seventeen: The Trojan Horse"You should always have...": Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 91."There is nothing about ...": "Chief Parker Expected to Quit in Bowron Row," Los Angeles Examiner Los Angeles Examiner, May 27, 1952; Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 171; Parson, Making a Better World Making a Better World, 112, 115.The charge emerged from: The residents of Chavez Ravine would later be evicted for another reason-to make way for Dodger Stadium.Bowron had no interest: Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed Los Angeles Transformed, 171.In December 1952: The Cadillac soon broke down, and Poulson replaced it with a fuel-efficient Rambler, much to the horror of West Coast oil and gas companies. Parson, Making a Better World Making a Better World, 127; Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 132-34."I just casually reached ...": Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 144."They would say that...": Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 144.the House Subcommittee on: "Verbal Battles by Lawyers Rock Public Housing Quiz," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1953. Parson, Making a Better World Making a Better World, 203-208, provides a complete transcript of the LAPD's Wilkinson file."I talked in circles,": Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 144-45.
Chapter Eighteen: The Magna Carta of the Criminal"The voice of the ...": Webb, The Badge The Badge, 244.Accardo's party proceeded to: Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 302. The Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror presents a slightly different version of the incident, which features a verbal confrontation at the airport. "Chicago Hoodlum Chased by Cops, Goes to 'Vegas,'" presents a slightly different version of the incident, which features a verbal confrontation at the airport. "Chicago Hoodlum Chased by Cops, Goes to 'Vegas,'" Mirror Mirror, January 16, 1953. See also Davidson, "The Mafia Can't Crack Los Angeles," Saturday Evening Post Saturday Evening Post, July 31, 1965. Fittingly, Perino's was also a famous gangster-movie restaurant, a place that featured in such films as Scarface, Bugsy Scarface, Bugsy, and Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive. It was torn down in the spring of 2005 (http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2005/04/perinos-no-more.html, accessed July 16, 2008).Then there were the: Parker to Rev. John Birth, director, Catholic Youth Organization, April 28, 1953, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. See Weeks, "Story of Chief Parker, Enemy of the Criminal," for a disingenuous attempt to explain away the "personal" intelligence files. Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, June 17, 1957, 1.The potential for the: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 140. The Daily News Daily News was speaking out against a proposal that surfaced that summer to give the police chief even more power over the department. "Give Police Board, not the Chief, More Power," was speaking out against a proposal that surfaced that summer to give the police chief even more power over the department. "Give Police Board, not the Chief, More Power," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, July 2, 1953; Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1953.There was a third: Coates, "Midnight Memo to the Mayor," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, July 20, 1953; Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 140, 147."Chief Parker is to ...": "Poulson Pledges War on Gangsters: Mayor-Elect Maps Plans with Parker; Shake-Up of Police Commission Indicated," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1953.Although he had concluded: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story The Genealogy and Life Story, 147; "4 Named to Police Board by Poulson," Hollywood Citizen-News Hollywood Citizen-News, July 2,1953.The message Poulson intended: Woods, "The Progressives and the Police," 151-52."Until these recommendations ...": Irey, "An Open Letter to the Mayor: Ex-Official Tells LA Police Stymie," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, July 13, 1953; Irey, "Police Dept. 'Split' Bared," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, July 14, 1953."Hardly anyone likes Parker, ...": Parker's relationship with the press had taken a turn for the worse earlier in the year, when he shut down a poker game involving reporters and the police that had been going on since time immemorial. At the chief's insistence, a sign was put up that read "No more card playing. By order of the Chief of Police." Parker would later claim that he was moved to act after discovering that one unfortunate reporter had run up a $2,000 debt. The press itself seems to have viewed the crackdown case as pure vindictiveness. In a scathing story about the controversy, the Daily News Daily News complained of the chief's "incredible inability to get along with newsmen or take criticism." "Speaking of Snoopers," complained of the chief's "incredible inability to get along with newsmen or take criticism." "Speaking of Snoopers," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, January 19, 1953.Poulson hoped that his: Commission members received a stipend of $20 per meeting but were otherwise unpaid. Mayor Poulson's predecessor, Fletcher Bowron, had also wrestled with this problem, when confronted with the prospect of having the ornery, independent-minded Parker as chief. His solution had been to place William Worton on the Police Commission board. Harry Frawley, "Police Board Will Use More Power-Mayor," Valley Times Valley Times, August 8, 1950. It didn't work. Parker's allies on the city council ferociously resisted a few early efforts by Worton to discipline the new chief. In the summer of 1951, General Worton resigned from the Police Commission and was gone. "Newman and Worton Quit Police Board," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1951, 1.If those weren't constraints: In his memoirs, Poulson would later accuse Parker of deliberately undermining the mayor's relationship with Poulson. This is probably true; however, Parker undoubtedly also benefited from an incident that occurred that very summer. Soon after Irwin joined the Police Commission, he was approached by Herbert Hallner, chief investigator for the state board, with a proposition: If Irwin would "cooperate" with a group of "citizens" attempting to win permission to open, he would be "well taken care of." It was common knowledge that the group of citizens in question was a front for Jimmy Utley, Mickey Cohen's sometime underworld rival. Irwin quickly informed Parker and Poulson of the approach, and with Irwin's continuing assistance, the department arranged a successful sting operation aimed at the corrupt investigator. The incident undoubtedly heightened Irwin's regard for the chief. See "Cal. Employe [sic] Accused as Bunco Go-Between," Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Daily News, September 2, 1953.Poulson struggled in his: "Responses to Questions of the Los Angeles City Council Concerning a Juvenile Gang Attack on a Citizen in Downtown Los Angeles Which Resulted in His Death, Given by Los Angels [sic] Chief of Police W H. Parker on December 8, 1953," Police Department files, Escobar collection, Tucson, AZ.But when Leask presented: Memorandum from Parker to the Board of Police Commissioners, "Subject: Progress Report-August 9, 1950, to January 1, 1953," January 7, 1953, Escobar collection, Tucson, AZ."You talk like you're ...": "Charge 750 Police in Office Jobs, Quiz Chief," Los Angeles Herald-Express Los Angeles Herald-Express, May 5, 1954; Williams, "Mayor and Parker in Sharp Clashes: Poulson, Police Chief and Leask Argue Heatedly at Public Hearing on City Budget," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1954, 1.It was classic Parker.: Gerald Woods put it aptly in his 1,310-page dissertation, "The Progressives and the Police": "A most contentious man, he could not abide the same quality in others.... He brooked no criticism of himself, his politics or his subordinates.... Parker's description of society provided a concise analysis of the chief himself. Americans, he said, were 'emotional people, responsive to stimuli administered to us through communicative media; we are immature and subjective about problems, and there is an unwillingness for us to accept our mistakes.' His enemies could not have said it better" (432).So far, the consequences: Memorandum from Parker to the Board of Police Commissioners, "Subject: Progress Report-August 9, 1950, to January 1, 1953," January 7, 1953, Escobar collection.I wish it could: Parker, Parker on Police Parker on Police, 16.For decades, police departments: For instance, in the spring of 1955, Judge Aubrey Irwin dismissed a case against Hollywood playboy LeRoy B. ("Skippy") Malouf after concluding that Malouf had been framed by the police. "'Planted' Fur Story Acquits Malouf in Theft," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1955, p. 4.
See the depiction of police work as approved by the department in He Walked by Night He Walked by Night.Of course, not every: Parker would later argue that technically wiretapping per se was not illegal under federal statutes but rather the divulging of information from a wiretap was. Parker, "Laws on Wiretapping," letter to the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1955."[I]n a prosecution": Irvine v. California Irvine v. California, 347 U.S. 128 (1954); Newton, Justice for All Justice for All, 338. No case was ever brought against the officers involved.The position of: "Chance on the High Sea," Time Time, August 14, 1939; Warren, The Memoirs of Earl Warren The Memoirs of Earl Warren, 255; Parker, "Responses to Questions of the Los Angeles City Council Concerning a Juvenile Gang Attack on a Citizen in Downtown Los Angeles," December 8, 1953, Escobar collection."Certainly society cannot expect...": City News Service, "Parker Hits at Highest Court Ruling in Irvine 'Bookie' Case," L.A. Journal L.A. Journal, February 19, 1954.This was a sensitive: Wirin's lawsuit was finally rejected on May 31, 1955. "Judge Rules He Cannot Stop Police Microphones, Lacks Jurisdiction on Use of Public Funds for Installation, McCoy Says," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 1, 1955.Wirin's attempts to rein: Los Angeles Herald-Express Los Angeles Herald-Express, April 19, 1954; Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1954."We would if you ...": Lieberman, "'Dragnet' Tales Drawn from LAPD Files Burnished the Department's Image," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2008."Far from being a ...": Mooring, "Chief Gives Opinion of 'Bad Cop' Films," The Tidings The Tidings, October 22, 1954; "Telephone Tap Defended by Chief Parker," Los Angeles Mirror-Daily News Los Angeles Mirror-Daily News, March 7, 1955. In 1968, Congress passed legislation (known as Title III) governing federal law enforcement's use of electronic surveillance that adopted precisely that procedure. California, however, declined to follow suit. Until quite recently, California state law criminalized all wiretaps that did not have the consent of both parties, with an exception only for certain narcotics-related law-enforcement matters. See Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs9-wrtp.htm#wt2, accessed July 26, 2008.In addition to trying: "Police Warned on Secret Wire Taps, Officers Subject to Liability for Illegal Entry, Brown Says," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, September 4, 1954.The case of Cahan: Cahan: Lieberman, "Cop Befriends Crook," Lieberman, "Cop Befriends Crook," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2008.Traynor served notice that: Liptak, "U.S. Is Alone in Rejecting All Evidence if Police Err," New York Times New York Times, July 19, 2008."Today one of the ...": "Hidden Mike Barred, Beverly Bookie Case Upset by High Court," Hollywood Citizen-News Hollywood Citizen-News, April 28, 1955."The positive implication drawn: Earlier that year the Chandlers' Mirror Mirror had bought out Manchester Boddy's had bought out Manchester Boddy's Daily News Daily News, creating the Mirror-News Mirror-News. For Parker's statistics, see "Criminals Laugh at LA Police, Says Chief. Underworld Rejoices in Ruling," Los Angeles Mirror-Daily News Los Angeles Mirror-Daily News, May 31, 1955.
Chapter Nineteen: The Enemy Within"He is intent on ...": Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, Chicago."There is not a: "Mickey Can't have L.A. Bar, Officers Rule," Hollywood Citizen-News Hollywood Citizen-News, October 10, 1955."When I was on ...": Cohen, Hecht manuscript, 63, Hecht Papers, New-berry Library.Several months after: The timing of the meeting between Hecht, Preminger, and Cohen is problematic. Brad Lewis's Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster places the meeting in the late 1940s or 1950s, well before the 1955 film was made (71). It is nonetheless possible that Preminger was reading Nelson Algren's book, published in 1949. places the meeting in the late 1940s or 1950s, well before the 1955 film was made (71). It is nonetheless possible that Preminger was reading Nelson Algren's book, published in 1949.On the appointed: Hecht manuscript, 1-3, 18-19, Hecht Papers, New-berry Library.Not anymore. The postprison: Hecht manuscript, 13-14, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. See also Cohen to Hecht, March 22, 1964, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 64, offers a slightly different recollection.
According to Hecht, Mickey originally brought him a 150-page typed manuscript that he said he had dictated. "Mickey Cohen Takes Manuscript to Author," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1957, 34. The Newberry Library contains fragments of this apparent manuscript.LaVonne thought Mickey: Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 193, 196.One night after midnight: The word gilgul gilgul means "cycle" in Hebrew and refers to a concept of reincarnation from the Kabbalistic tradition. Hecht manuscript, 16-17, 70-71, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library. means "cycle" in Hebrew and refers to a concept of reincarnation from the Kabbalistic tradition. Hecht manuscript, 16-17, 70-71, Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Chief Parker would have: Lieberman, "Cop Befriends Crook," Los Angeles Los Angeles Times Times, October 29, 2008.By 1956, the Kennedys: The extent of Joseph Kennedy's involvement in bootlegging is often exaggerated. Contrary to public myth, the Kennedy family fortune was not based on illegal liquor. Joseph Kennedy's father, P. J., had owned a series of saloons and liquor distributorships well before Prohibition, but it was Kennedy's financial prowess (and his decision to bail out before the crash of 1929), as well as a series of savvy investments in Hollywood that increased the family's resources so dramatically in the late 1920s and 1930s. That said, even though it was hardly necessary financially, Kennedy seems to have occasionally dabbled in bootlegging. See Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 19-20; Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Robert Kennedy: His Life, 41.Kennedy had long been: Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Robert Kennedy: His Life, 62-3, 71.Soon thereafter, in August: Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Robert Kennedy: His Life, 72; Kennedy, The Enemy Within, 18-21 The Enemy Within, 18-21.Parker took Kennedy's visit: Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Robert Kennedy: His Life, 74.At the end of: Kennedy, The Enemy Within The Enemy Within, 8.One day in the: Author interview with Harold Sullivan, July 26, 2007.The turning point came: Author interview with Joe Parker, December 1213, 2004.
Chapter Twenty: The Mike Wallace Interview"I killed no men ...": Mickey Cohen to Mike Wallace, May 19, 1957; Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 49.When Mickey Cohen: In 1950, Graham switched from describing his revivals as "Campaigns" to calling them "Crusades." Graham, Just As I Am Just As I Am, 163.Richardson responded by saying: Graham, Just As I Am Just As I Am, 150, 162, 174-75, 190-92.Graham and Cohen had: See Jennings, "The Private Life of a Hood," conclusion, October 11, 1958, for an admission from "Picked for Cohen Role in Film, Skelton Says," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1961, 2. W. C. Jones admitted to only about $18,000 in gifts."He's invited me ...": "Mickey Cohen Sees Billy Graham, Talks on Religion, Former Mobster Goes to N.Y. for Conference," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1957, B1.In the summer of: Adams, "Mike Wallace Puts Out Dragnet to Line Up 'Talent' for His New Show," New York Times New York Times, April 21, 1957, 105; Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 21-24, 32-33.That fall: Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 45.Wallace's interviews: Author interview with Al Ramrus, March 18, 2008; Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 31-32.When Ramrus contacted Mickey: Cohen, In My Own Words In My Own Words, 171. The claim that Billy Graham pushed Cohen to talk to Mike Wallace should be viewed with a certain degree of skepticism since Mickey himself is the sole source for this claim. Jennings, "Private Life of a Hood, Part III," October 4, 1958, reports that Cohen also received $1,800 for expenses.When Cohen flew: Author inteview with Al Ramrus, March 18, 2008, provides most of the account that follows. See also Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 48-53. Wallace recalled another companion named Arlene-presumably the nightclub dancer Arlene Stevens-and places Mickey in the Hampshire House. Wallace, Between You and Me Between You and Me, 160-67."I have a police chief": Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 50; Wallace, Between You and Me Between You and Me, 161-63."Well, Mickey, you're a ...": "Important Story," Time Time, June 3, 1957; "Parker Seeks Grand Jury Action Over Cohen Blast," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1957, B1.Mickey Cohen wasn't: See Harnisch, "Cohen Talks," for an interesting discussion of the controversy about whether to air the episode on the West Coast and an explanation of kinescope technology. Harnish, Daily Mirror Daily Mirror blog ( blog (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2007/05/cohen-talks.html).The Mike Wallace Interview: Mike Wallace Interview: Wallace and Gates, Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 50-51; Wallace, Between You and Me Between You and Me, 163-64.Cohen was enraged by: "A.B.C.-TV Retracts Remarks by Cohen," New New York Times York Times, May 27, 1957, 44.Cohen, meanwhile, was dealing: "Cohen Attends Graham Rally in New York," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 22, 1957, 10. See also Jennings, "The Private Life of a Hood," conclusion, October 11, 1958. Brad Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, says Cohen was paid $15,000 to attend the rally (206). There are no further records of direct encounters between the two men, although evidently Graham's father-in-law, Dr. Nelson Bell, himself a distinguished preacher, stayed in touch."They can't get away ...": "Cohen Booked for Not Signing Traffic Ticket," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1957, 1; "Mickey Cohen's Traffic Trial Off to Salty Start, Policemen Who Made Arrest Testify That Defendant Delayed Autos at Intersection," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1957, 5.Los Angeles-area: "Cohen Found Guilty, Gets $11 Traffic Fine," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, November 12, 1957, 5; "Cohen Jailed for Failure to Register," Los Angeles Mirror Los Angeles Mirror, September 26, 1957, accessed October 12, 2008, via Larry Harnisch's Daily Mirror Daily Mirror blog ( blog (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/mickey_cohen/index.html); "Jury Acquits Mickey Cohen on Disturbing Peace Charge, Ex-Convict Ruling May Affect Case," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1957, 2."I didn't know a...": Lewis, Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, 208. The profitability of the greenhouse business is somewhat unclear. For a positive assessment of its cash flow, see Salazar, "Violence Marks Cohen's History," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1961.Henceforth, Mickey would focus: "Chicago Attorney Glad to Stake Mickey Cohen, Admits $22,500 Loan; Says Ex-Gambler Stands to Make Fortune on Life Story," Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1958, 19.Back in New York: Ramrus interview, March 18, 2008; Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 52-53.For the most part: Wallace and Gates, Close Encounters Close Encounters, 52."That is a big ...": Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 325-26.The very next day: Fox, Blood and Power Blood and Power, 326. For a different account of the gangsters' response to the police raid, see Hilty, Robert Kennedy, Brother Protector Robert Kennedy, Brother Protector, 124.It was clear that: Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.Back in Washington, Robert: Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Robert Kennedy: His Life, 82.One year earlier the: Russo, The Outfit The Outfit, 317."The results of the ...": Kennedy, The Enemy Within The Enemy Within, 229.