Although many false messages went out last night…… (More about that later or tomorrow.)
…The New Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is Charlie Beck.
CONGRATULATIONS TO CHIEF OF POLICE CHARLIE!
GREAT choice, Mr. Mayor. (Chosen from a 3-some of strong choices.)
The new era begins!
P.S. For a glimpse into what kind of leader our new LAPD head guy will be, and what kind of person he has been before the floodlights turned his direction, reread this July 2008 interview with Chief Charlie. It’ll make you feel good. I promise.
PPS: The LAPPL reminds me that Beck started his career in the LAPD as a reserve officer. He volunteered. Did it for free. And then went to the academy. All this and he’s a motocross champ, a problem solver, a respecter of civil rights, and a guy with that command presence. He is also personally secure enough that he is unafraid of allowing his own views to evolve—and admitting to it.
Chief Beck is completely read to lead now, but watch him also grow on the job.
“Charlie Beck is the quintessential cops-cop.” You said it Celeste, and you are 110% right. Beck is Joe Friday for real. Straightforward, no-nonsense, and he truly understands not only what a cop’s job is, but also how to communicate that in plain clear language.
This guy will be a great Chief, perhaps even greater than Bratton. For once it seems our Mayor has actually made a good decision for the right reasons. While I wish Charlie Beck all the best of luck, I also hope our Mayor will remain focused on rebuilding his tarnished career by continuing to make decisions for Los Angeles like this.
Too bad he had to be so pc in some of his statements. The graduation rate isn’t your problem chief, making L.A. safer is your number one priority.
Too bad Charlie is starting his new stint as chief marred by rumors and gossip all over the internet. The LA Times story today doesn’t help at all and somewhat confirms what many were saying yesterday. I hope the two other good candidates stay on and are put in key positions. Beck will have a great team if he uses their experience.
I was pulling for Leland Stottlemeyer the whole time.
Funny you should say that, Woody. As you can see, Charlie Beck looks more than a little like Leland Stottlemeyer. I actually think Charlie’s better for the part. But they easily could be brothers.
Janet, in a little while, I’ll have some comments on all this in a post. But I wouldn’t worry too much about the messy process of choosing the chief being made public. In the end, the mayor chose a really good man—and we’re all better off knowing that he wasn’t a shoe-in. Then the choice feels more deliberative and less political.
What this does show is that all the reporting three weeks ago, about it being a done deal, not only was not true, in did not help the process at all.
(Even I fell into that trap on Monday morning.)
Anyway, more soon.
Thanks Celesete. If you hear any news on the other two candidates that would be great to post. There’s another ex newspaper guy reporting a different spin but everyone is now weighing in. We want to see a good team that won’t cow tow to the Mayor and those council members. They’ve made a mess of the city and we don’t want them to interfere and mess with a dept. that is on a high.
Doesn’t look like a face that represents most Angelenos. But hey, shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. He could be a real public servant for the people, and not a tyrant like Darryl Gates. Of course, sadly, that’s what the “cops are always right, no matter what” folks want, a pure white bread to keep the minorities in check. Guess we’ll find out.
I want every bad guy kept in checked and that most of them in the L.A. area are Hispanic is just the way it is. What folks “that matter” want are safe streets and they don’t care what the last name of the person going to jail is as long as it helps.
Leave it to a Sacramento uber-critic to bring up Darryl Gates. Funny I haven’t seen the locals mention his name in years. It’s called redemption. It’s called turning a scarred eye to a brighter future. “Guess we’ll find out”? Yup guess you will, from a safe distance.
I need to use my white bread tyranny and keep Rob Thomas in check. I didn’t know the sacramento kid living who lives in his mama’s basment was an oppressed minority. But that will make me even happier if he is, another minority I can keep in check.
LOL. Gava Joe, I hear locals in LA talk about Gates all of the time, and I’m there on an average of once a week. You live in Kansas, and haven’t been to LA in your life (which makes your obsession with politics in LA quite puzzling…). Your knowledge of Los Angeles is limited to blog comments. That’s what makes your hatred of DQ so funny. Everything you know about LA is from him! You know nothing about Los Angeles, or really anything outside of Kansas, as evidenced by your comments. Oh and you were hilarious on your blog complaining about Obama raising taxes, knowing damned well you’re a subsidized farmer. Welfare queens complaining about high taxes. Meet the modern day republican (oh, sorry, libertarian…LOL).
Sheriff Joe, my mom’s basement? Surely a big shot, fame hungry sheriff like you who never met a camera he didn’t like could come up with a put down more recent than circa 1995. Oh, wait, you’re from Arizona. That explains it. And, we all know the pink inmate garb is really about your own sexual fetishes. Your love affair with the camera doesn’t jive with your whole cowboy veneer. Something’s up with you, and I think we all know what it is. Go sit on a cactus.
Sure Fire, everyone wants safe streets. Since when has the LAPD tried to achieve that goal? They’ve done nothing but make the streets more dangerous. And the main reason for that is because they’ve been ran by people from Simi Valley and Orange County, and they treat the actual citizens of Los Angeles like refugees. That’s never going to fly. None of the cops in the final running looks like they even live in Los Angeles, and, they probably don’t. But since poplockerone doesn’t like Beck, I’m willing to give him a chance. He’s off to a good start. First day, criticism from poplockerone. That means he’s doing something right.