page_title: Parker Center
hierarchical_section_title: Parker Center
caption_attribution_description: English: "Old" Parker Center — the previous headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department, in the Civic Center district.
context_page_description: Parker Center was the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1955 until October 2009 and was located in downtown LA at 150 N. Los Angeles St. Often called "The Glass House", the building was named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally called the Police Administration Building, groundbreaking for the center began on December 30, 1952, and construction was completed in 1955. The architect was Welton Becket and Associates and J.E. Stanton, associated architect. Maynard Woodard was director of design and Francis Runcy was the project architect. The eight-story building was of reinforced concrete with aluminum sash windows covered by louvers. Ceramic tile by Gladding, McBean covered the west elevation. The building combined police facilities that had been located throughout the Civic Center area. The new building was called "Ultramodern in all respects" and "The Jail that Modern Science Built" by Popular Mechanics in 1956. The jail area was built without window bars, utilizing nonbreakable tempered glass, and Neoprene floors to reduce self-injuries.
context_section_description: Parker Center was the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department from 1955 until October 2009 and was located in downtown LA at 150 N. Los Angeles St. Often called "The Glass House", the building was named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally called the Police Administration Building (PAB) (or Police Facilities Building), groundbreaking for the center began on December 30, 1952, and construction was completed in 1955. The architect was Welton Becket and Associates and J.E. Stanton, associated architect. Maynard Woodard was director of design and Francis Runcy was the project architect. The eight-story building was of reinforced concrete with aluminum sash windows covered by louvers. Ceramic tile by Gladding, McBean covered the west elevation.  The building combined police facilities that had been located throughout the Civic Center area. The new building was called "Ultramodern in all respects" and "The Jail that Modern Science Built" by Popular Mechanics in 1956. The jail area was built without window bars, utilizing nonbreakable tempered glass, and Neoprene floors to reduce self-injuries. A special control board in the lineup room could simulate different lighting conditions and a wire screen that acted like a one-way mirror. The Statistical Unit was the first police department to install IBM computer equipment. The laboratories of the Scientific Investigation Division took up the entire 4th floor and included early versions of a breath-based alcohol impairment test. Two prominent artworks were commissioned for the building, a large bronze modernist sculpture by Bernard Rosenthal mounted at the entrance titled "The American Family," and a mosaic work in the lobby depicting architectural landmarks of Los Angeles by Joseph Young. The mural, mounted a few feet off the ground, was 6' high and 36' long, was Young's first public work. American Artist magazine called it “Six tons of steel, copper, aluminum and glass, fused into a monolithic mosaic panel of beauty and permanence that seems to float on air.” Both artworks were removed by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2018.  
  The location was previously home to the Olympic Hotel.
  On July 16, 1966, Parker suffered a fatal heart attack. Soon afterward, the Los Angeles City Council renamed the building "Parker Center". The building was one of the sites of unrest during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed a not-guilty verdict for the four police officers involved in the Rodney King incident.
caption: Parker Center, 150 N Los Angeles Street
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