rrest andThe accomplishments of a police department in its

suppression of crime and apprehension of offendersare frequently measured in terms of numbers of ar-rests. This, however, merely indicates the volume orquantity of police activity but not the quality of appre-hension and enforcement. Cases or reported crimeswhich have been cleared, and complaints filed on per-sons arrested, wi II better indicate a good or poor jobof law enforcement in any municipality. It frequentlyoccurs that one arrest will clear fifteen or twenty casesor reported crimes. An epidemic of burglaries or rob-beries may prove to be the collective operations of oneor two offenders rather than the activities of manyseparate individuals working independently. In thisrespect, the objective of apprehension should be di-rected toward those responsible for crime. Numbers

of arrests alone will not show that this objective isbeing accomplished.

AND COMPLAINTS

TO A TEN YEAR AVERAGE

It~~~:s I 10·Year ~I Percent 1 Ca~ll!dints 11 10-YearNature of Offense I 1950 i Average Change J 1950 Average

Prostitution and Commercialized Vice.-~!;460-· - T---2-9-8-0-- -:..--17-.-4-1-----1-9-5-9-- -- 2808

Liquor : 444 I 303 : +46.5! 410 ' 395*Sex Perversion : 2385 1290' +84.9 I 2225 1193

1950 VICE ARRESTS

COMPARED

enforcementHowever, in such crimes as vice and narcotics

offenses, the number of arrests is almost the solemeasure of criminal activity and police effectiveness,because all parties involved are offenders.

One of the most aggravating and difficult problemsfacing the police is that of vice enforcement. Vicecould not exist were it not for the participation of thecitizenry. Unfortunately, however, people tend tominimize the implication of a few dollars lost in agambling establishment and seldom perceive the rela-tionship of their participation to the over-all vice prob-lem. They fail to realize, for example, that the streetcarner "bookie" cauld nat operate profitably withoutthe vast organization which controls wire services to.bookmakers throughout the nation. Bookmakers donot exist wi thout "racket" affi Iiations.

Vice is a big business. In fact, it is one of the big-gest in the nation today. Some estimates indicate a

**Other Sex Offenses 45Bookmaking 995Other Gambling 4212

-r------TOTAL I 10541

Percent"Change

1---_· --30.2

+ 3.8+86.5,

44 : 37 +18.9

637 : ~05 +26.1

:--:====:f==4=1=5=8 ===1=: 7196 =-42.:._9433 I· 12134 - I ---=-22.3--

50 I -10.01035

I - 3.96252 I -32.6 I

I--l- ---1

I I

11910 -11.5 I·Crime against Nature; Sex Perversion;Sodomy;Vag lewd or Dissolute.

**Failure to Register after Convictionof Sex Crime; Indecent Writings; lewd and Obscene Plays; Obscene Dancing; Register Ordinance; UsingVehiclefor Immaral Purposes.

"take" of twenty billion dollars every year, by orga-nized crime. This is a sum roughly half of the Federalbudget and averages about $1 30 for every man, wo-man and child in the nation.

The Los Angeles Police Department has vigorouslyenforced laws regulating vice activity. Such enforce-ment is not limited to a group of specialists in thedepartment but, as has been clearly stated by the

REPORTED CRIMES, CASES CLEARED, AND COMPLAINTS FILEDYEAR J950

Chief, is the responsibility of every member of this lawenforcement agency. There is, however, a supplementto the over-all effort in the form of several highly spe-cialized details which devote their entire time to viceenforcement. For example, ecch patrol division has adetail for this work and another division has city-widejurisdiction, opero tinq as a "control" force directlyunder the Bureau of Administration.

VICE ENFORCEMENT BY GEOGRAPHIC POLICE DIVISIONJANUARY J TO DECEMBER 3J, J950

Prostitution liquor Sex Perversion t1 s oOfft~ Bookmok;ng Other Gombnng i Totalt------;-----!I----r-- ---!---- ex :::e~__.l.;Arrests Per Cent Arrests Per Cent Arrest~:- Cent Arrest~T Per c~rr=r Per Cent Arrests Per Cent t-~~e~ P-:; C~~t

Central --.-.. -1.1-1-5-7-2+-'63.9 I 121 I 2;:;-~24~ 1-;~:~4.~ 1 276 !--;7.;-~·6-6-2--1---1-5.-7[' 3894 r- 36.9

University 1 132 5.4 i 27 6.1 143· 6.0 I 1 2.2 ,159 16.0, 812 19.3 I' 1~74: 12.1Hollenbeck 1 10 I .4! 41 9.2 61 I 2.6:.. I •. , 32 3.2 I 83 2.0 I 227 I 2.2

Harbor 1 146 i 5.9 t 26 5.8 27 1.1 I 3 6.7' 28 2.8 i 101 2.4 331 3.1Hollywood .1 98 4.0 I 35 7.9 406 17.0 i 5 11.1! 81 8.2, 37 I .9 J; 662 6.3Wilshire 1' 51 2.1 27 I 6.1 176 7.4' 6 13.3 106 10.7 i 45 1.0 ii' 411 I 3.9

I I iWest los Angeles.. . . . . . 4 .2 19 II 4.3 33 1.4. . . . 18: 1.8 11 .3 85 I .8Valley......... 16 .7 29 6.5 86 3.6 4 8.9 27 2.7 88 2.1! 250 i 2.4Highland Park......... 35 1.4 21 4.7 100 4.2 1 2.2 40 4.0 38 .91 2351 2.2

77th Street .. . . . . . . . . . . 65 2.6 49 11.0 32 1.3 2 4.5 96 9.6 458 10.9 702 6.6NewtonStreet 316 12.8 39 8.8 49 2.1 3 6.7 117 11.81876 44.512400 22.8Venice 15 .6 10 2.3 29 1.2.. .. 15 1.5 1 0' 70, .7

I

DIVISION

Total 2460 100.0 444 100.0 2385 100.0 45 100.0 995 100.0 4212 100.0 10541 f100.0

28·Cases cleared by both arrest and exceptional clearances; excludes automobiles recovered, 4,306; bicycles recovered, 1,677.

% ofCrimes "Coses Cases Complainls

Offenses Reported Cleared Cleared Filed- -- --- -------- -- ---- -1 -

Murder ...................... 65 58 89.2 41

Rape ........................ 578 ·399 69.0 I 161IRobbery ..................... 2280 992 I 43.5 I 545, IAssault ...................... 2642 2064 I 78.1 I 502

Burglary ..................... 10610 2653 25.0 774

Grand Theft .................. 4373 968 22.1 474

Petty Theft .................... 25957 3263 12.6 1980

Auto Theft .................... 4543 783 17.2 290

Forgery and Fictitious Checks ..... 6894 4166 60.4 821

Total ..................... 57942 15346 26.5 5588

29

• Los Angeles City is characterized by thenumber of single-family residences within itsboundaries. It is a city of home lovers aswell as home owners. In this light the activi-ties of juveniles must be of great interest tothe individ.ual parents of the community aswell as to the police. Children of school agein this community now constitute one of thebiggest school enrollments of the nation-400,000 children attending Los Angeles Cityschools.• Of this great number some will requirepolice attention. In order that any contactwith police may be beneficial to the child,the Los Angeles Police Department providesa corps of specially trained male and femaleofficers to deal with juvenile problems.• Beginning in 1940 juvenile arrests,starting"from a round figure of 3,600 in 1945,reached a figure of 9,200. We could specu-late on the causes of this increased delin-quency by reason of parents both beingemployed in war work, resulting in impropersupervision, the moral letdown which accom-panies war, etc. However, since 1945 theamount of juvenile delinquency as evidencedby arrests has dropped fairly regularly to apoint of some 7,300 in 1950.

10,000 ---------------------

9000 -------~~--~---------

8000 ------~-----~----_,~~-

7000 ------+--------~~-----woo ----~~---------------

5000 ----,~----------------

4000 -~~~-----------------

»00 ---------------------

2000 ---------------------JUVENILE ARRESTS

1000 ---------------------

1940 1941 1942 1943 19« 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950

JUVENILE ARRESTS BY DIVISION OF OCCURRENCE ANDDIVISION OF RESIDENCE

--------.DIVISION OF OCCURRENCE

l-V)

----. ----.,u.:<.u II111<.

ALL CHARGES

MALE 6150

FEMALE 1225

V)w--'woZ« I-

WW

'"l-V)

ooo~~--'oI

~uwcoZw--'--'oI

>-l-

V)

'"w>Z::J

TOTAL .. 7375 oz:5IoI

V)

9l-V)w~

I

! !Io I.- - ---------;....---41"""· --5 16 1 23 794

32 15 3 18 I, 6631 13 12 I, 403

1 9 4496 2339 346

3 184721 3 18 782

10 410 2 2 4 12. 488I

9 5 2 531 12 5 30 6784 1 7 13 31 1 3 8 4435 3 5 103 5 121

I --LOutside L A.-In Calif.. .. r326 81! 72 61 86 49 51 100 65 125 41 30 I 20~12-;;-

-- -!-- ->---I,-----+---+-; - '- T -+---1 IN~~_-R_e~dent '_' ._. '_~~,...,''c=±'=33c-:ll=:3-t-731~9.-=-' 2 -, ;- - 26 -7- 9 4 54': 501

Total-,-.-., -.. -. ..'. ... 1449 p==t===-tc-=2=24=r=8=79-~n575 ;- 72n 419 ! 166 -r~l~

zol-

I ~Z

w'"IV)--'

<.'"f-Zwu

'"oco'"«

I I

wUZw>

>-w::::«>

....I-cf-

oI-

DIVISION OF RESIDENCE

--i"---r---:-"--'r-39 I 14 47

475 5 62 312 1

1 1 430 12 195

33 18

- - - ----1-- I"Central "., ,... 602University .. , .. , .. ,.... 43Hollenbeck 28

Harbor , ,. 2Hollywood .. , ". 9Wilshire , 16

West Los Angeles .Valley .Highland Park " .

77th Street , , ..Newton St , .Venice .

t-, 14 ,

532

672

337

265

29

1116

252

173

1420

1

7

14

1556

3 4

91029

3536

14

3154 3

103

30

DETECTIVE BUREAU

nvestigationThe responsibility for the investigation of all crimes

except those concerned with vice, traffic, juveniles andarson lies with the Detective Bureau. Approximately,600 investigators of various ranks are assigned to

accomplish this task.The organization of the Bureau is complex due to

the factors of the large area involved and the desira-bility of specialization. It would not be feasible toinvestigate all crimes from one central headquarters,therefore, detectives are assigned to each geograph-ical division. The specialized divisions at central head-quarters (see chart on page 18) investigate all crimesin Central Division, as well as coordinate and assist

the geographical divisions when necessary.There were 50,470 crimes reported to the police

requiring investigation during 1950. Approximately17,000 were cleared by arrests during the year, re-quiring 49,186 man hours of court time. One hundredfourteen extraditions were completed and 22,674man hours were devoted to "stake-outs" in effecting

arrests.One of the most important divisions within the Bu-

reau is the Scientific Investigation Division, which isresponsible for the processing of all physical evidence,fingerprints, ballistics, handwriting examinations, andphotography. The division is equipped with all thelatest types of equipment necessary to perform its im-portant functions. Some idea of the volume of workperformed during 1950 may be gained from the fol-

lowing figures:Over 29,000 prisoners were photographed; 2,200

IT

Au •• u P.r100,000 Population

NARCOTIC ARRESTSttrtcttt» IN THf CITY 0' LOS ANGELES

1940 1950120

v- /

V/

1//;,.-- --'"

100

80

60

20

19';0 4' 41 ~ .•.• ....5 46 47 •• 49 SO

--------!ADULT NARCOTIC ARRESTS AND DISPOSITIONS

1940 TO 1950-- ------

Complaints FiledArresh per

Number of %of 100,000Yeor Arresh Number Arresh Pcpulc ticn

1940 382 192 50.3 25.5

1941 326 192 58.9 20.8

1942 332 278 83.7 20.5

1943 377 165 43.8 22.6

1944 .............. 586 291 49.7 34.5

1945 .............. 720 368 51.1 40.9

1946 ............. 1081 581 53.7 59.4

1947 ............. 1517 663 43.7 80.7

1948 1661 823 49.5 86.5

1949 .............. 1616 817 50.6 82.9

1950 .............. 2021 1074 53.1 102.6

31