Blue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American Policing (60 page)

Gates’s
stated
objection
: Anthony De Los Reyes interview.

“He was very upset”
: Ibid.

took the commission sixteen hours . . . devoted to Willie Williams
: Ibid.

highest grade among the initial civil service selection committees
: “Philadelphia Chief to Head LAPD.”

“confrontations with every single LAPD person”
: Michael Yamaki interview.

flown to Philadelphia
: “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

“Please don’t take my police chief away”
: Ibid.

“If I was looking for a job”
: Ibid.

The commission’s first vote
: Michael Yamaki interview.

Bernard Parks . . . disliked by both Lane and Brewer
: Ann Reiss Lane interview.

“Remember, Bernie Parks”
: Ibid.

Willie Williams had “the right temperament”
: “With Initiative, Williams Rides Out a Tough First Year,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 25, 1989.

reputation
worse
than the LAPD’s
: David Dotson interview.

“how the Philadelphia police operated in those days”
: Ibid.

“had died for our sins”
: Charlie Beck interview.

disapproval rating of 81 percent
: “Los Angeles Has Chance to Show Anger at Gates,”
LAT
, May 31, 1992.

distrust score at 85 percent
: Reese, “The Rise and Fall of a Public Leader.”

“Okay, fine, let’s celebrate him”
: Michael Yamaki interview.

Sunday-
morning emergency meeting
: Anthony De Los Reyes interview.

“That’s when he finally caved”
: Ibid.

“We love you, Chief”
: “Williams Takes Oath as New Police Chief.”

“phalanx of police motorcyclists”
: Ibid.

host of a talk-radio show
: “What’s Behind KFI’s Firing of Tom Leykis?: Radio: Dropping of Host—and Daryl Gates in—Stuns Audience,”
LAT
, October 1, 1992; “Daryl Gates Helps Make KFI Top Talk Gun: Radio: The Former Los Angeles Police Chief’s Hiring in September Leads Station to Victory over Rival KABC,”
LAT
, January 9, 1993; “Daryl Gates on Show’s End: ‘I Have Real Mixed Emotions’: Radio: The Former L.A. Police Chief’s 15-Month Stint as KFI Talk-Show Host Is over on Friday,”
LAT
, December 30, 1993.

Willie Williams, Late Eighties to Early Nineties, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The oldest of seven children
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st,”
LADN
, June 6, 1988; “Man in the News: Willie Lawrence Williams, an Astute Manager”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace.”

spindly, asthmatic child
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

administered last rites
: “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

His father labored in a meatpacking plant
: “Profile: Willie L. Williams,”
LAT
, April 17, 1992; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

delivering newspapers
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

By fifteen he too was packing meat part-time
: “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

almost losing his arm
: Ibid.

1961 high school graduation
: “Fonder of Phila., Thanks to L.A. Willie L. Williams Returned to Speak About Unity. His Home Town, He Said, Is Ahead of His New One on That Point,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, October 18, 1993; “The Top Cop Talks: Commissioner Willie Williams Speaks His Mind About His Family, Future, Successes and Frustrations,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, October 25, 1989.

city messenger for $2,600 a year
: “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

double his annual salary overnight to $5,000
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

wife, Evelina—a clerk-typist
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “The Top Cop Talks: Commissioner Willie Williams Speaks His Mind About His Family, Future, Successes and Frustrations.”

raised three children
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “Profile: Willie L. Williams”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

three-bedroom row house
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st”; “Philadelphia’s Top Cop Offers a Reformist Style: Outsider: Willie Williams Expects Resistance if Chosen as L.A. Police Chief. But He Is Accustomed to Tough Battles,”
LAT
, March 22, 1992.

dog named Frisky
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st.”

live together in the city for twenty-three years
: Ibid.

took both the sergeants’ test and the detectives’ test three times
: Ibid.

Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science
: “Profile: Willie L. Williams”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

never fire his weapon
: “Willie Williams Feeling at Home: Commissioner Puts Family 1st.”

promoted to captain
: “With Initiative, Williams Rides Out a Tough First Year”; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

1985 dropping of a bomb
: “Police Drop Bomb on Radicals’ Home in Philadelphia,”
NYT
, May 14, 1985; “Philadelphia Bombing: Clash Is Recalled,”
NYT
, May 14, 1986; “The MOVE Disaster: May 13, 1985, Day That Forever Changed the City,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, May 8, 2005; “Officer Down, Willie Williams’ Fall from Grace”; “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

“single most stupid police action”
: “Timoney Isn’t First Outsider Hired to Shake Up Police: 10 Years Ago, Kevin Tucker Had Similar Goals in Tougher Situation,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, April 6, 1998.

federal convictions . . . thirty commanders and officers
: “Official Who Restored Respect to Philadelphia Police Resigns,”
NYT
, May 28, 1988.

The son of Irish immigrants
: “Former Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 21, 2012; “Kevin Tucker Is Dead at 71; Led Philadelphia Police,”
NYT
, June 22, 2012.

working-class Brooklyn
: Ibid.

joined the army after high school
: Ibid.

single-handedly arrested three men
: Ibid.

U.S. Secret Service . . . offered Tucker a job
: Ibid.

guarding Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
: Ibid.

Goode named him police commissioner
: Ibid.

fourth-largest police department in the nation
: “With Initiative, Williams Rides Out a Tough First Year”; “The Top Cop Talks: Commissioner Willie Williams Speaks His Mind About His Family, Future, Successes and Frustrations.”

“favoritism, corruption, and brutality”
: “The Nation: Philadelphia Police Hit,”
LAT
, March 12, 1987.

“unfocused, unmanaged”
: Ibid.

South Philly high school dropout
: “Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia Dies at 70; A ‘Hero’ and ‘Villain,’ ”
NYT
, July 17, 1991.

his love of the blackjack
: Ibid.

black population . . . 1980s . . . 40 percent of the city’s residents
: “Minorities Accounted for Area Population Gain,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 20, 1991.

as late as 1980 had no shooting policy
: “Guns Being Fired More Often by Police in Phila.,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, November 18, 1990.

Saturday night raids, personally led by Rizzo, on gay bars
: “Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia Dies at 70; A ‘Hero’ and ‘Villian.’ ”

stripped Black Panthers naked
: Ibid.

spy on his political opponents
: The Learning Company, Inc., “Frank Rizzo,” 1998.

acts of police brutality were so “widespread and severe”
: “ ‘Stop and Frisk’ or Sloppy Risk?”
Philadelphia
, June 27, 2011.

first department ever sued by the U.S. Justice Department
: Ibid.

sending fifty commanders . . . John F. Kennedy School of Government
: “Former Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker.”

diversifying the department
: “Saying Goodbye to Kevin Tucker,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 10, 1988; “Former Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker.”

three ranks to deputy commissioner
: “Tucker Deputy Named to Head Youth Center,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, March 23, 1988; “With Initiative, Williams Rides Out a Tough First Year.”

195-page blueprint
: “The Nation: Philadelphia Police Hit.”

a “Mutt and Jeff” comedy act
: “Williams Criticized at Hearing, Police Readiness Is Questioned,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, January 25, 1990.

“living in a climate of fear”
: “Philadelphia Justice System Overwhelmed,”
NYT
, August 15, 1990.

“on the verge of collapse”
: Ibid.

1988 jail-overcrowding federal lawsuit
: “Agreement May Delay Jail Cap,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 4, 1988; “City Jails Receiving Once Again,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 11, 1988.

5,900 officers in 1988, compared to 8,400 in 1977
: “Philadelphia Justice System Overwhelmed.”

response time . . . as long as two hours
: “Shortage of Policemen Cited in Park Beating,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, October 13, 1988; “Williams: City Is Short 600 Police Officers,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, October 27, 1988.

police facilities . . . without heat in the winter
: “Williams Criticized at Hearing, Police Readiness Is Questioned.”

165 were out of service
: Ibid.