Retiring after more than 40 years, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has evolved with the department he leads

In 2009, then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Charlie Beck are shown after announcement that Beck would become chief.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

June 22, 2018 6:27 PM PT

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck thanks City Council members and other dignitaries after his swearing-in ceremony Dec. 2, 2009.

(Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Charlie Beck reads to third-graders Valeria Magana, left, Joshua Lopez and Kendra Taylor at 99th Street Elementary School in 2009.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck takes a phone call while visiting the Whilshire station in 2010.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck talks with officers at the Wilshire station in 2010.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and fellow officers prepare for a team photo after a 2010 basketball game.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, left, takes lessons from training officer Phillip Walters at the department’s training facility in Granada Hills.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck delivers an American flag during the 2014 funeral for Officer Nicholas Lee.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, left, and Mayor Eric Garcetti greet Edwin Lee Chapman, 96, the oldest surviving LAPD detective, in 2016, at the department’s academy.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)