Chief Bernard C. Parks’ LAPD Career

Chief Parks has served 37 years in the Los Angeles Police Department. Here are some of the milestones in his career:

February 1965: Enters police academy at LAPD. Works in traffic division initially.

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August 1977: Is named a captain after stints as a sergeant and detective.

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July 1980: Promoted to the rank of commander.

February 1988: Named deputy chief.

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June 1992: The Police Commission, haunted by the 1992 riots, appoints outsider Willie L. Williams as police chief. Parks is the top contender for the position from within the LAPD’s ranks.

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November 1992: Parks assumes the No. 2 spot as assistant chief.

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September 1994: Parks is demoted to deputy chief by Williams. He is assigned to oversee LAPD’s special operations, including the Internal Affairs Division.

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August 1997: The choice of then-Mayor Richard Riordan, Parks is sworn in as the 52nd chief of police of Los Angeles after Williams is not reappointed.

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December 1997: Parks revamps the department’s system for disciplining officers, resulting in more citizen complaints being investigated and more officers censured or fired. Over time, many of the rank and file come to view the new policies as overly burdensome.

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March 1998: Six pounds of cocaine is missing from a property room at LAPD headquarters. In August, LAPD Officer Rafael A. Perez of the Rampart Division is arrested on suspicion of stealing the cocaine. The Rampart Division scandal involving allegedly violent, drug-dealing cops widens in 1999, and, under Parks’ watch, is investigated.

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1999: Chief Parks disbands the Senior Lead Officer program, reassigning 170 senior leads from serving as full-time public liaisons to patrol duties.

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Mid-March 2000: Deputy district attorneys complain Parks has ordered his detectives to deny them access to information regarding the unfolding Rampart corruption investigation. Parks counters that, because the U.S. attorney’s office has joined the probe, the LAPD will send all information to federal authorities instead of the district attorney.

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Late March 2000: After the chief accuses Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti of going too slowly in prosecuting rogue officers and Garcetti accuses Parks of obstructing his investigators, the Police Commission orders Chief Parks to cooperate with the district attorney.

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May 28, 2000: In a year when homicide rates rose sharply in the city, Lori Gonzalez, Parks’ granddaughter, is shot to death inside a car in the driveway of a fast-food restaurant in southwest Los Angeles, one week short of her 21st birthday. Police say the alleged gunman, a gang member, was aiming for Gonzalez’s companion, another gang member.

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March 5, 2001: A confidential report by the Police Commission’s inspector general finds that the LAPD sought to bypass county prosecutors handling the Rampart corruption probe.

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March 13, 2001: Then-Mayor Richard Riordan orders the Senior Lead Officer program reinstated. In a compromise, senior leads are to work at least one day a week on street patrol.

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Jan. 31, 2002: Parks announces he will seek another five-year term as chief. The Los Angeles Police Commission, a group of five civilians appointed by Mayor James K. Hahn, has until mid-May to decide whether to reappoint Parks.

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Feb. 5, 2002: Mayor Hahn announces his opposition to a second five-year term for Chief Parks, arguing that Parks has not done enough to fight crime, reform the LAPD, or strengthen relations between police and residents. African American community activists, religious leaders and political officials react with anger and in mid-March, send a letter to Hahn warning him he is no longer welcome in their “pulpits, at annual dinners and other events.”

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Feb. 21, 2002: Police Commission President Rick Caruso announces Parks will be evaulated on his vision and leadership; control and prevention of crime; management; police reform; strategies for community policing and programs; communications; personnel administration and employee relations; and relations with the Police Commission.

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April 1-2, 2002: Parks is interviewed on his job performance for nearly nine hours over two days by the Police Commission in a closed-door session.

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April 9, 2002: Police Commission votes 4-1 not to give Parks a second term.