Lessons in Crime

The angry crackle of gunfire has subsided, bullet holes in walls have been patched and life is finally returning to normal in North Hollywood after the spectacular Bank of America robbery.

Lauded as heroes and saviors, officers of the LAPD have suddenly added the duties of curators and historians to their job descriptions as they record, analyze and preserve for posterity the events of Feb. 28.

A month after killing two heavily armed bank robbers, the department is fighting a different kind of battle, trying to handle a flood of calls from law enforcement agencies all over the country who want video footage, even unedited, of the gunfight to use as a training aid.

“Everybody has a bank,” said Lt. Anthony Alba, an LAPD spokesman. “There are valuable lessons from this robbery that even law enforcement agencies from small communities can learn from.”

There’s also the question of what to do with six patrol cars riddled by some of the estimated 1,000 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition the robbers fired.

Because a new police car, fully equipped, costs the department around $32,300, police officials are looking for any way to salvage what’s left.

How about a museum exhibit?

“The department’s been looking at the possibilities of displaying one of the most damaged cars in a museum setting,” Alba said.

Although a location for the display has not been determined, Alba said that it was important that the LAPD preserve items from the gun battle, not only to serve as a reminder to the public of the dangers of police work, but also to help train new recruits.

The other five vehicles that were not as severely damaged will be cannibalized for spare parts.

Currently, all of the bullet-punctured cars are being stored at the LAPD’s Motor Transport Division at downtown police headquarters.

Meanwhile, the department’s Press Relations Section is swamped with requests from officials of other law enforcement agencies who want to train their officers in how to handle a similar emergency.

“We’ve had hundreds of police and sheriff’s departments call and write for video, audio tape and anything else we can send them,” said Alba.

One problem, according to Alba, is that the department has limited manpower and money to fulfill all of the requests in a timely manner.

Another problem is that video footage of the gun battle taken on the ground and from TV news helicopters is not owned by the LAPD. Currently, the department is negotiating with several Los Angeles TV stations to splice their individual footage into a training video for police use.

The department has already received permission to use raw footage shot for national network programs, including NBC’s “Dateline.”

“When an organization asks for material, we send them our 911 police dispatch tape because we own that,” said Alba. “However, if they want video, we tell them to call the local TV stations directly.”

Alba said the LAPD has received requests from federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as well as from police departments in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

But there have been just as many phone calls and letters from small-town law enforcement agencies.

The state of Wyoming, with a total population of 482,100--somewhat larger than the city of Long Beach--has had only four bank robberies this year. However, officers of the Natrona County Sheriff’s Department, based in Casper, are concerned that a similar crime could occur in their community.

“The first thing that came to our minds when we saw the robbery was the movie, ‘Heat’,” said Sheriff Mark Benton, Natrona County undersheriff. In the film, actors Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer portray two heavily armed robbers who wage a fierce gun battle with police.

“We contacted the LAPD because we think there’s high potential for someone to commit a copycat crime out here,” Benton said. “We’ll use their radio traffic tape to help train our SWAT unit.”