LAPD

Joseph Wright  |   OW Senior Staff Writer
Jul 8 2010

Grim Sleeper arrest wraps up decade’s-long investigation

After killing 10 Black women and at least one Black man in South Central Los Angeles for almost 25 years,  a man suspected of being the so-called “Grim Sleeper” was arrested yesterday by the Los Angeles Police Department.
 
The Robbery-Homicide Division of the LAPD took 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr. into custody at his home on 81st Street near Western Avenue. His arrest is the culmination of an investigation that began more than two decades ago.
 

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 22 2010

Contrarian, innovator, iconic figure

“… Blacks might be more likely to die from choke holds because their arteries do not open as fast as they do on ‘normal people.’” 
—Former Chief Daryl Gates in a 1982 quote to the “L.A. Times” about high fatality rates suffered during police restraints, which prompted the Urban League to call for his suspension.
 

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Apr 21 2010

The two sides of Daryl Gates that I saw

The on-set camera crew and sound technicians had long since departed from the sound stage at KCBS-TV and the lights had dimmed but we sat there for what seemed like endless hours afterwards engaging in bare-knuckles, heated debate. At one moment my fierce opponent and at another moment my jovial associate was former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chief Daryl Gates. We were co-commentators for the station during the O.J. Simpson trial. On and off the set, we went at it on everything from the Rodney King beating, the L.A.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Feb 18 2010

New Wellness center aims to help families cope

The Washington Involving Neighborhoods (WIN) program has opened a Wellness Center on the campus of Washington Preparatory High School, and the facility is open to families and community members in the 19 feeder schools surrounding the high school.
The center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the goal is to provide mental, emotional and social services that will help families and students succeed.

Jul 24 2009

Police Commission reduces post-incident officer training

The Los Angeles Police Commission agreed Wednesday to a change in the disciplinary process on officers who use serious force during altercations.

As an alternative to automatic additional officer training, LAPD will be allowed to discuss the incidents with the police officers.

Cmdr. Richard Webb with Internal Affairs said that the discussions “... really do require officers to identify their own areas of needed improvement...”

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”