LAPD Chief Charlie Beck sworn in, for a second time, in ceremony at headquarters

It was all pomp and pageantry at the LAPD’s downtown headquarters Thursday as newly appointed Chief Charlie Beck was sworn in to office -- for a second time.

Beck officially became the department’s leader a few weeks ago when the City Council unanimously approved his nomination by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Beck, 56, took the oath of office in a brief ceremony after the council vote. Thursday’s event was for show and celebration. Against the backdrop of City Hall, elected officials, department brass and a few hundred other guests filled the courtyard outside the Los Angeles Police Department’s gleaming new headquarters.

Mounted police sat along 1st Street, which had been closed to traffic, while the department’s official band alternated between festive holiday music and traditional police marching tunes. An LAPD helicopter flew in low circles overhead. Beck walked onto the stage to the plaintive drone of bagpipers.

The bunting-laced dais was packed with Beck’s family -- a clan rooted deeply in the department. His father is a retired deputy chief, his sister a former detective, his stepdaughter a patrol officer and his son is scheduled to graduate from the Police Academy today.

Many council members, civilian police commissioners and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca also attended. Beck’s predecessor, William J. Bratton, returned from his new job as head of a police consulting firm in New York City for the celebration. Next to him was Daryl F. Gates, another influential leader of the department who served for 14 years until 1992.

As before, Beck was sworn in as the 56th LAPD chief by Villaraigosa, who, in his remarks, called the new chief “the right man at the right time to shape this department in the future.”

Council President Eric Garcetti said Beck -- a 32-year veteran of the force -- had the trust and respect of the department’s nearly 10,000 officers. That trust will be needed to solidify reforms that Bratton introduced.

“For the first time in many decades, what we are asking of this chief is to continue the momentum of reform, rather than be the first to usher it in,” he said. Beck “embodies the new era of LAPD.”

joel.rubin@latimes.com