Yesterday I trekked Downtown to be part of a historic day in
At the pedestrian level, the grounds are full of goodies:
Facing the adjacent Old Bank District residential neighborhood sits a one-acre grass park with an alley of grand palm trees leading toward the iconic Art Deco Los Angeles Times building; with the decommissioned St. Vibiana’s Cathedral standing sentinel, the Main Street side has a raised area with an artistically-inspired metal sculpture installation made of plates bearing the names of over 200 fallen LAPD officers (sadly, a list with lots of room to grow); the First Street side facing City Hall is a wall of glass, reflecting our amazing City Hall and reminding the police department that it serves, and is overseen by, the people of the City of Los Angeles.
The Spring Street side is home to eight large metal sculptures that immediately attracted controversy because they sort of look like . . . cow dung? Or maybe headless/handless/footless people curled up in a ball? After being tazed? I think they are perfectly appropriate, and that art is supposed to get people talking (mission accomplished, since there’s been a lot of TV and radio coverage of the sculptures). They also seemed like they might serve the dual-purpose of stopping a car bomb, so, bonus points for that! But outgoing Chief Bratton really, really hates them and hasn’t been shy about calling them “cow splat” and stating that the plan is to cover them up with flowers and shrubbery. We’ll get used to them.
A highlight of the morning was the unfurling of a massive American flag, after which time, members of the SWAT team rappelled down the face of the building. Great theatrics but problematic in that the exercise seemed to leave black boot marks (not visible in the photo) behind on the dramatic, pristine wall face. Wondering how the custodial staff is going to tackle those stains!
I was confused to see these LAPD detectives standing at a table full of goodies that caught my retail eye. It looked just like NYC, where all the good Midwestern tourists go to SoHo to buy knock-off purses. Was this some sort of weird LAPD Bake Sale fundraiser or something? I was really confused. DUH! It's a table full of seized counterfeit goods!
That is Chief Bratton in the CompStat room. CompStat stands for Computer Statistics and was first used in 1994 by the NYPD. It uses GIS maps to plot out crimes and make a visual representation of trouble areas. Once those areas are identified at monthly meetings of top departmental staff, resources are deployed in a strategic and targeted manner to try and suppress crime by attacking the hot spots. CompStat is a management philosophy that is based on accountability (of the Commanders in each precinct, or geographic area) and is widely credited with helping bring NYC back from the brink of Chaos in the Streets in the 1990s.
Was there a special program celebrating the service of policemen who served in the 40''s, 50's and 60's at the new police building on Friday, November 13th, 2009?
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