City Beat: LAPD honors its first motorcycle officer killed on duty
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Walter R. Kreps was the first LAPD motorcycle officer killed on the job. An LAPD car collided with his motorcycle on March 28, 1916.
On Friday, the Police Department came out in force to honor him by marking his unmarked grave.
A distant relative had discovered that the grave had no marker. The Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation flew him to L.A. from Missouri.
At Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Pico-Union, the LAPD honor guard marched, a police helicopter dipped overhead and participants reflected on Kreps and the L.A. he lived in.
Back then, motorcycle officers wore tweed uniforms and leather gloves. No one wore a helmet. Kreps' skull was fractured in the collision.
I hope you'll read my latest City Beat on the tribute to Walter R. Kreps.
Keep reading to see the photo story that I sent out on Twitter, about the day.
Follow City Beat on Twitter and Facebook. Read more City Beats here.
Email ideas for future City Beats to nita.lelyveld@latimes.com
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