Police Commissioner Quits in Battle With Police Chief!

Posted on June 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
June 18, 1959, Resignation Letter

June 18, 1959, Mirror Cover, Police Commissioner Quits

June 18, 1959: Ethel Barrymore dies.
June 18, 1959, Police Commissioner Resigns
The only African American member of the Police Commission resigns, accusing Chief William H. Parker of leading a department that "whitewashes policemen accused of brutality, and practices discrimination in arrests."

Greenwood further charges that instead of reporting to the Police Commission, Parker controls the oversight board and ignores their orders. "We don't tell him. He tells us," Greenwood says.

"The policy is that if it's a case of a citizen against an officer, the officer is always believed," Greenwood says.

Parker replies: "Los Angeles has the highest reputation in the country for lack of discrimination."

Six years later, Watts will explode in flames — and white Los Angeles will wonder why.

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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2 Responses to Police Commissioner Quits in Battle With Police Chief!

  1. Eve's avatar Eve says:
    June 19, 2009 at 12:35 pm

    Ethel! Originator of the theatrical phrase “that’s all there is–there isn’t any more.”

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  2. Kurt Eckhardt's avatar Kurt Eckhardt says:
    June 20, 2009 at 10:37 am

    Turns out Greenwood was right. There was very little crime in L.A.’s African-American community and to this day American, inner-city blacks are a beacon of law abiding good citizenship.

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