William H. Parker and the Thin Blue Line: Politics, Public
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
WILLIAM H. PARKER AND THE THIN BLUE LINE: POLITICS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND POLICING IN POSTWAR LOS ANGELES By Alisa Sarah Kramer Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In History Chair: Michael Kazin, Kimberly Sims1 Dean o f the College of Arts and Sciences 3 ^ Date 2007 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY UBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3286654 Copyright 2007 by Kramer, Alisa Sarah All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3286654 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © COPYRIGHT by Alisa Sarah Kramer 2007 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I dedicate this dissertation in memory of my sister Debby. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WILLIAM H. PARKER AND THE THIN BLUE LINE: POLITICS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND POLICING IN POSTWAR LOS ANGELES By Alisa Sarah Kramer ABSTRACT This dissertation is an analysis of the power of the chief of police in postwar Los Angeles, his use of politics and public relations, and the consequences of police reforms he instituted in the Los Angeles Police Department. The political dimensions of the tenure of Chief William H. Parker, who served from 1950 to 1966, are part of a much larger story about the chiefs career - his local and national reputations, and how he influenced the city's race relations with the police department. Parker exerted extraordinary influence on the LAPD and the city of Los Angeles because he took advantage of decentralized city government and life tenure to wield uncontested power over elected and appointed officials. At the same time he used public relations brilliantly to draw attention to himself as a pioneer in postwar police reform and to his department as a model of professional policing. An analysis of Parker's tenure provides an understanding of the LAPD's turbulent history, its contentious relations with minorities, its extensive coverage by the media and its popularity with the entertainment industry. Such an analysis can also provide an understanding of Los Angeles municipal government, the city's politics and the local press at mid-century. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Because no biography of Parker exists, an analysis of his tenure as chief is woven into a narrative of his life. Parker came to Los Angeles as a young man in the early 1920s from Lead, South Dakota, where he was raised a Catholic and embraced a strict code of ethics. As a police officer advancing through the ranks, Parker maintained his distance from a corrupt police culture where officers routinely beat suspects and engaged in graft in alcohol, prostitution and vice. During the first two years as chief, Parker transformed the LAPD into a modem organization with professional officers, weakened the Police Commission as an oversight board and cultivated the city's business leaders to form a strong base of support which lasted throughout his sixteen years in office. He used his bully pulpit to praise his officers, and warn the public of the communist menace and lax morality which would hasten the downfall of western civilization. Only the police, he argued, could maintain democracy and the social order. Despite his political skills, however, he could not suppress racial tensions that dogged him throughout his tenure. As civil rights leaders and their supporters challenged Parker on the conduct of his officers, he demonized his opponents and accused them of communism, undermining police morale and threatening American democracy. When race riots exploded in August, 1965, they doomed his career and his reputation. He died in office at sixty-four the following year. He left a legacy of increasing tensions and abuse of the chiefs power. When the city again exploded in violence in 1992, his legacy ended when voters abolished life tenure, and forced the retirement of the current chief who had modeled his own career after Parker's. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people helped me to complete this dissertation. During my research phase, Jeff Rankin and Octavio Olvera in Special Collections at UCLA's Young Research Library, Dace Taube at USC's Special Collections, David Kessler at University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library and Jay Jones at the Los Angeles City Archives made available oral histories, files of newspaper articles and manuscript collections. John Donovan shared with me his FBI file on Parker and his article on the feud between the chief and J. Edgar Hoover. Many elected officials, civic leaders and legal experts added to my research. David Cunningham, Jr., Rosalind Wyman and Zev Yaroslavsky contributed their observations on communications between the LAPD and city council members. The late Otis Chandler shared with me his experience as publisher of theLos Angeles Times during the 1960s. Warren Christopher explained the differences between the responsibilities and findings of the McCone Commission and the Christopher Commission. Professor Erwin Chereminsky, Judge Stephen Reinhardt and attorney Michael Narvid discussed the limits of police reform, the power of the department in manipulating local politics, and Parker's own professional limits. My understanding of the LAPD during the Parker years was enhanced by conversations with retired police chief Bernard Parks and retired Deputy Chief David Gascon. Retired Deputy Chief David Dotson spent hours with me on details of Parker's iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. tenure including the consequences of his legacy. An interview with retired Chief Patrick Murphy gave me insight into the national reputation Parker earned as a postwar police reformer. Professors in political science and social policy provided useful background. Raphael Sonenshein and the late Eric Monkkonen spoke with me about local politics, the mystique of Dragnet and the limits of Hoover's campaign against organized crime. Reporters, editors and political managers added their expertise. Bill Boyarsky, Joe Domanick, Jack Langguth, and Bill Thomas shared with me their knowledge of police politics and the political climate of the 1950s. Frank Mankiewicz provided a history of grass roots politics in Los Angeles and facilitated my interview with Mr. Chandler. Professors on my dissertation committee were generous with advice. Michael Kazin suggested pursuing the connection between the LAPD and the conservative movement, and Brian Forst suggested useful readings on policing and a theoretical framework for Parker's police reforms. Kimberly Sims read my revisions carefully and directed me to deepen my analysis. My advisor, Robert Griffith, defined the standards for academic scholarship and helped me shape the dissertation. Jerry and Ruby Bubis opened their home to me for two summers, and Vanessa Schwartz and Rebecca Isaacs opened theirs to me for a third. I am grateful to Stanley Sheinbaum for facilitating contact with David Dotson and David Gascon, and to Professor Pamela Nadell and Ed Farber for suggesting that I write about the LAPD. My family gave me all the support I could ask for, especially my parents. My sister Debby died as I pursued my PhD and it is in her memory that I dedicate this dissertation. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1 2. PARKER’S EARLY CAREER..........................................................................12 3. PARKER PROFESSIONALIZES THE LAPD.............................................. 44 4. PARKER CONFRONTS HIS CHALLENGERS.......................................... 105 5. A CONSERVATIVE IN A CHANGING CITY .............................................160 6. THE CHIEF CONFRONTS THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ..............219 7. THE CITY EXPLODES..................................................................................269 8.