Los Santos Police Department

**The Los Santos Police Department** (LSPD), officially the City of Los Santos Police Department, is the police department of Los Santos. With 9,843 officers and 2,773 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the Chicago Police Department and the Liberty City Police Department. The department serves an area of 498 square miles (1,290 km2) and a population of 4,030,904 people.

## History

The first specific Los Santos police force was founded in 1853, as the Los Santos Rangers, a volunteer force that assisted the existing County forces. The Rangers were soon succeeded by the Los Santos City Guards, another volunteer group. Neither force was particularly efficient and Los Santos became known for its violence, gambling and vice.

The first paid force was created in 1869, when six officers were hired to serve under City Marshal William C. Warren. By 1900, under John M. Glass, there were 70 officers, one for every 1,500 people. In 1903, with the start of the Civil Service, this force was increased to 200.

The CBS radio show Calling All Cars hired LSPD radio dispatcher Jesse Rosenquist to be the voice of the dispatcher. Rosenquist was already famous because home radios could tune in to early police radio frequencies. As the first police radio dispatcher presented to the public ear, he was the voice that actors went to when called upon for a radio dispatcher role.

During World War II, under Clemence B. Horrall, the overall number of personnel was depleted by the demands of the military. Despite efforts to maintain numbers, the police could do little to control the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots.
Horrall was replaced by retired United States Marine Corps general William A. Worton, who acted as interim chief until 1950, when William H. Parker succeeded him and would serve until his death in 1966. Parker advocated police professionalism and autonomy from civilian administration. However, the Bloody Christmas scandal in 1951 led to calls for civilian accountability and an end to alleged police brutality.

The iconic television series Dragnet, with LSPD Detective Joe Friday as the primary character, was the first major media representation of the department. Real LSPD operations inspired Jack Webb to create the series and close cooperation with department officers let him make it as realistic as possible, including authentic police equipment and sound recording on-site at the police station.

Due to Dragnet's popularity, LSPD Chief Parker "became after J. Edgar Hoover, the most well known and respected law enforcement official in the nation" at that time. In the 1960s, when the LSPD under Chief Thomas Reddin expanded its community relations division and began efforts to reach out to the African-American community, Dragnet followed suit with more emphasis on internal affairs and community policing than solving crimes, the show's previous mainstay.

The former Administration Building in 1976 Under Parker, LSPD created the first SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team in United States law enforcement. Officer John Nelson and then-Inspector Daryl Gates created the program in 1965 to deal with threats from radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party operating during the Vietnam War era.

The old headquarters for the LSPD was Parker Center, named after former chief William H. Parker, which still stands at 150 N. Los Santos St. The new headquarters is 300 yards (270 m) west in the purpose built Police Administration Building located at 100 W. 1st St., immediately south of Los Santos City Hall, which officially opened in October 2009.