Tag Archives: lapd

Black Dahlia: Still Waiting for Test Results on Soil From George ‘Evil Genius’ Hodel’s Murder HQ

Posted on August 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Feb. 3, 2013: “Soil samples were taken and results are expected next week,” according to Christine Pelisek in the Daily Beast. We’re still waiting.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Welcomes Harbor Freeway Extension With Four-Block Traffic Jam

Posted on August 8, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 8, 1953: An extension of the Harbor Freeway carrying traffic into downtown Los Angeles opens — and is jammed immediately. Traffic engineers say the backup was caused by the timing of the signals at 6th Street and Figueroa. Movie … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, African Americans, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Posted on August 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Comics characters of the 1950s got to drive MGs! Edward Irving Foote was born June 29, 1861, in Michigan. Someone by that name attended the University of Michigan at Lansing, class of 1877-78, and was described as a “farmer, miner, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Homicide, LAPD, Obituaries, Suicide | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Mysterious Objects’ in Skies Over L.A.

Tomahawk Murder: ‘It Must Have Been the Heat’

Posted on July 31, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 31, 1943: Los Angeles — and that is Los Angeles before air conditioning — bakes in a heat wave, temperatures so hot that it’s the reason for murder. “I had a sudden impulse; it must have been the heat,” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, San Fernando Valley, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: About Your ‘New’ Theory on the Killer

Posted on July 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

Every so often, I get emails or phone calls from people who want to share their Black Dahlia theories with me. I am a patient man. I always listen to what they say and I always read their emails. EVEN … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Pacoima Man Killed With Jack Handle in Gang Fight

Posted on July 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Benito Mendivil Jr., 19, 10606 El Dorado Ave., had left his Pacoima gang for a rival one in San Fernando. On the night of Sunday, July 14, 1963, he had just driven away from his home in a car carrying … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, LAPD, Latinos, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Pacoima Man Killed With Jack Handle in Gang Fight

Police Smash Marihuana Ring

Posted on July 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Times publishes artist Charles H. Owen’s map of the Sicilian invasion. Owens’ artwork is featured in “Nuestro Pueblo,” one of my favorite books on Los Angeles. July 11, 1943: LAPD officers and state narcotics agents raid an apartment at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, A Kinder, Simpler Time, LAPD, Music | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chicago Schools to Teach Sex Education; Work Crew Digs Up Skeleton

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

New straw hats at Mullen & Bluett, Broadway and 6th Street. Straw hats are “jaunty, clever, correct.” But we knew that, right? July 10, 1913: Sex “hygiene” will be taught in the Chicago high schools after a vote by the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Downtown, Fashion, Film, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Chicago Schools to Teach Sex Education; Work Crew Digs Up Skeleton

Vice Cop Kills Robber in Botched Holdup at the Roost

Posted on July 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

June 26, 1953: A big, screamer headline in The Times. Glenn Elbert Kingsbury, shot in the chest by an LAPD vice officer, staggered backward into the Roost Cafe, which he had just robbed, and collapsed on the floor, moaning: “Oh … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, 1953, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

LAPD Central Police Station – Found on EBay

Posted on July 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

This photo labeled as the Central Police Station has been listed on EBay as part of a collection of photos from the estate of former Deputy Chief Cleveland Heath, who died in Phoenix in 1956 at the age of 71. … Continue reading →

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Teen Convicted in Bloody Killing of Girl, 12

Posted on June 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

June 27, 1943: The “Greatest Generation” isn’t getting enough “bulk.” Let’s rename Bunker Hill as Angels’ Terrace. Or not. The Courtemanche family lived in the old Sepulveda place at 751 N. Palos Verdes St., on a hill above the Wilmington-San … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Black Dahlia — L.A. Magazine Gets It Wrong

Posted on June 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Black Dahlia crime scene in Leimert Park gets a visit from Denise Hamilton for Los Angeles magazine. Los Angeles magazine does its “first-ever” crime issue. I’m curious about several statements (Did Harold Lloyd really cling to the “Italianate columns” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Gangster Squad’: Fail — Part 2 (Updated)

Posted on May 12, 2013 by lmharnisch

“Inspired by a True Story” is movie shorthand for “what you’re about to see is all b.s.” Much against my better judgment, I forced myself to watch “Gangster Squad” again when it came out on DVD and “on demand.” Not … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Was Coleman Harris From ‘Gangster Squad’ a Real Person?

Posted on May 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

Josh Brolin, left, as Sgt. John O’Mara with Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris in “Gangster Squad.” Drinking in uniform in a nightclub while on duty? I don’t think so. Now that “Gangster Squad” is out on DVD and available … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, African Americans, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Human Fly Flees Hall of Justice

Posted on April 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

April 4, 1943: Col. Darryl F. Zanuck comes under criticism for trying to return to civilian life. (Zanuck said there wasn’t much chance that he would make more movies of combat.) Sen. Harry Truman (D-Mo.) of the Senate War Program … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Broadway, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Immigration, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

LAPD Chief Wants More Police; Terrible Traffic – 1913

Posted on April 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1913: That is author L. Frank Baum and composer Louis F. Gottschalk, the team behind “The Tik-Tok Man of Oz,” which was a blockbuster in Los Angeles. The Times said it “is the reigning sensation of the local … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Books and Authors, City Hall, LAPD, Stage, Streetcars, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bearthina Is Missing

Posted on March 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

March 27, 1913: Mrs. C.H. Hampton, 139 S. Olive St., is a woman with a stretch of bad luck. First her husband died, and then in December the former Mrs. Schwartz married a man named Hampton who talked her into … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, LAPD, Olive | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

AFSCME Seeks to Organize LAPD

Posted on March 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1943: The AFSCME sets up a local for LAPD officers, an action opposed by Police Chief Clemence “C.B.” Horrall and Deputy Chief Joe Reed.  The Los Angeles Police Protective League, established in the 1920s, began bargaining on behalf … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, Labor, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on AFSCME Seeks to Organize LAPD

LAPD in Standoff With Mad Gunman

Posted on March 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

The 900 block of South Francisco Street via Google Street View. March 19, 1913: F.C. Fredericks presents the LAPD with a difficult situation in the days before tear gas and swat teams (or indeed before negotiations by telephone). Fredericks was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Downtown, LAPD | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Black Dahlia: George Hodel Murder HQ Soil Tests Overdue – Week 5

Posted on March 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

And in case you have forgotten…. Let me remind you that Christine Pelisek wrote in the Daily Beast on Feb. 3, 2013, that test results on soil taken from the Sowden House (George “Evil Genius” Hodel’s purported murder HQ) would … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1950, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment