Tag Archives: lapd

Hat squad III

Posted on September 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 14, 1957 Los Angeles Motorcycle Officer W.W. Wilhelm decided to put some teeth in fashion law and cited motorist Louise Squire for wearing a plastic mesh basket on her head. When stopped at Argyle and Franklin Avenues, Squire, … Continue reading →

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Mystery guest revealed

Posted on September 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

Anthony Brancato, killed Aug. 6, 1951, 1648 N. Ogden Drive, Hollywood, along with Anthony Trombino in the “Two Tonys Murder.” Jimmy “The Weasel” Fratianno eventually confessed to the killings.

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Police and the courts

Posted on September 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

I missed this op/ed piece when it came out July 19, 1957. It was certainly a different era for the police.

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

Matt Weinstock Sept. 5, 1957 An Altadena family took off recently on a trip to Europe. The other day, the next-door neighbor, Ed Murray, was advised by his youngster that a skunk was trapped in the cement crawl hole at … Continue reading →

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The Choirboys

Posted on August 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 17-22, 1957 Los Angeles Officers Robert J. Steele, 25, and James K. Sherratt, 28, were sitting in Steele’s car at 4 a.m. after finishing their shifts at Newton Division when a gunman tried to rob them, The Times said. … Continue reading →

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The vexations of research

Posted on August 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Aug. 18, 1957 Los Angeles Nearly a century ago, Los Angeles had the wisdom and foresight to appoint the first policewoman in the United States–or was she? Alice Stebbins Wells is usually given that distinction today, but the record … Continue reading →

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Four-time loser

Posted on August 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 12, 1957Los Angeles John Gordon Fawcett, 42, had enough. His last three marriages had ended with his wives getting boyfriends and so when he found his fourth wife in the bedroom with another man…. “This happens every time,” he … Continue reading →

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‘I Hate Cops!’

Posted on August 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 2, 1957Los Angeles It was St. Patrick’s Day, 1957, and a few customers got rowdy in a bar at Pico Boulevard and Figueroa Street. Police Officer Leo Wise separated a couple of men who were fighting and ordered them … Continue reading →

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Countdown to Watts

Posted on August 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

Aug. 1-7, 1957Los Angeles A search through The Times for early August reveals several stories about Chief William H. Parker being honored for 30 years service with the Los Angeles Police Department. In a luncheon at the Biltmore Bowl hosted … Continue reading →

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Random queries

Posted on July 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

The hits for the Daily Mirror blog show that someone is researching the Feb. 13, 1969, robbery of the Bank of America at 3320 S. Hill. Here’s your answer: The Times wrote very little about the case, although police killed … Continue reading →

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Cold case solved

Posted on July 29, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25-31, 1957Los Angeles Nine minutes after the cyanide pellets were dropped in the gas chamber at San Quentin, James Lewis Feldkamp,  25, who had once tried to become an LAPD officer, was dead. If he hadn’t been turned down … Continue reading →

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Attack in Griffith Park

Posted on July 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 27, 1957Los Angeles I’m going to describe a neighborhood and you guess where it is: Gay women living together, speaking Armenian and working for nonprofits. (OK, I’m exaggerating slightly). Also lots of foreign-born urbanites and “makin’ it singles.” That’s … Continue reading →

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Voices–Lew Irwin

Posted on July 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

Longtime broadcaster Lew Irwin operates Studio Briefing, an Internet-based daily digest of entertainment industry news. This is his story about reporting on the NAACP brutality lawsuits against the Police Department. I was working for KPOL… I was the news director … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957 You know how some newspapermen are–gay and carefree. Well, a reporter–let’s call him Mac–was driving home the other day after suitably observing the decline of common sense with a few literate friends. Two blocks from his home, … Continue reading →

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Police shakeup

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957Los Angeles As surprising as it seems now, there was a time when the Los Angeles newspapers actively covered top-ranking personnel at the LAPD. Most readers would be hard-pressed to name the current head of Robbery-Homicide (Capt. Kyle … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 11, 1957 There was a traffic tie-up at the Harbor turnoff the other day as Inspectors Ed Walker and Bob Houghton were traveling inbound on the Hollywood Freeway. They threaded their way through it and came upon a woman … Continue reading →

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Literary diversions

Posted on July 7, 2007 by lmharnisch

Detective Sgt. Joe Wambaugh gets in trouble for writing a book. Nov. 18, 1970. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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Prowler terrorizes L.A.

Posted on July 1, 2007 by lmharnisch

  July 1, 1957 Los Angeles Detective Sgts. W.R. "Bud" Schottmiller and J.B. Close of the Hollywood Division have little to go on after a prowler broke into an apartment to rape a young woman somewhere on Irving Boulevard (the … Continue reading →

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Melchior robbers caught

Posted on June 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

June 22, 1957 Los Angeles  Wayne Burke, Richard McFall and Alfred J. Pope fled into the night in what they thought was a clean getaway. McFall said: “Burke and I got in my car and J. [Pope] took furs and … Continue reading →

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William Parker, Part 5

Posted on June 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

  June 21, 1957Los Angeles William Parker, below left, and Jack Webb. Note that Parker says he would have never given permission for "Dragnet," which was initially approved in the Clemence "C.B." Horrall administration. On July 16, 1966, Parker suffered … Continue reading →

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