LATimes.com: An epiphany, and an evolving philosophy of policing

Los Angeles Police Department Chief-designate Charlie Beck received a thoughtful and well-written profile in today’s Los Angeles Times, discussing his evolution as an officer across 30 years of service, and his policing philosophies that led to his recent selection by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

One section of the article focuses on Beck’s tenure as head of Rampart Division, which encompasses the area around MacArthur Park (home of Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant):

Soon after being hired as chief in 2002, William J. Bratton identified Beck, by then a captain in the department’s rough Central Division, as someone who he believed had potential.

He sent Beck to run the Rampart Division, which was still recovering from a corruption scandal, and tasked him with one of the high-profile assignments aimed at winning back some of the public’s confidence.

…

Beck seized the chance. He reached out to a nascent core of local business owners and leaned on other city agencies to return the park’s lighting, sports facilities and landscaping to working order.

…

“They had to own the problem,” Beck said, using a favorite catch phrase. “I told them, ‘This is our problem, we are going to fix this.’ Everyone had to be involved. And we started talking about how we were going to do it. I told them, ‘When we get done with this, we won’t make any arrests in the park.'”

Click here to read the complete story at LATimes.com

Image caption: Chief-designate Charlie Beck enjoys lunch last week at Langer’s; LA Times photo