Daryl F. Gates was the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 until 1992.

Early life

Daryl Francis Gates was born in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, on August 30th, 1926. The Great Depression had an impact on his early life: his father became an alcoholic after losing his job and frequently ended up in trouble with the police in Glendale where the Gates lived. His mother had to support the family alone on little more than government welfare. Daryl graduated from high school and joined the Navy in time to see action in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Shortly after leaving the Navy, he attended college on the GI Bill and soon was married. In need of an income, his friend suggested he join the LAPD.

LAPD career

In 1949 he joined the LAPD. Among his roles as an officer, Daryl Gates was picked to be the chauffeur for Chief William Parker. William Parker was credited with being the Chief that reformed and streamlined the LAPD, bringing in changes to stamp out corruption and improve efficiency. One such change was to assign police according to the time of day and neighbourhood where crimes were committed -- a proactive approach to policing, which made LAPD the most aggressive police department in the country. As his chauffer, Daryl Gates soon learned the importance of political support.

Gates worked hard for his promotional exams and came out first in the Sergeants exam, and in fact came out first in every exam after that too. On his promotion to Lieutenant he rejoined Chief Parker as his executive officer.

During his early career, Gates also worked on the Manson Family and the Hillside Strangler murders.

He was promoted to Captain and became responsible for intelligence, and by 1965 he was an Inspector, shortly before the Watts Riot erupted.

In 1978 Daryl F Gates became the 49th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Achievements

Daryl F Gates is credited with inventing the SWAT - Special Weapons And Tactics concept, in 1965. This is a model used by law enforcement agencies throughout the world today for their specialised units dealing with hostage rescue and extreme situations involving armed and dangerous suspects. In the 1960s Los Angeles had some serious troubles with sniping incidents against police officers and civilians. Ordinary officers didn't handle those situations at all well, because line police officers, whose job is simple law enforcement, get limited weapons training, very little weapons practice, and effectively no team combat tactics or "counterforce" capability. Officer John Nelson came up with the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit, intended to respond to and manage critical situations while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Daryl F. Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. The first SWAT team in world was born, LAPD SWAT, D-Platoon of the Metro Division. This first SWAT unit was initially constituted as 15 teams of four men each, for a total staff of 60. These officers were given special status and benefits. They had to attend special monthly training. This unit also served as security unit for police facilities during civil unrest.

In addition, the DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education programme is thanks to Daryl F Gates. This is a law enforcement programme to educate children in schools about the dangers of substance abuse. DARE is used worldwide today in many schools, ostensibly helping in the fight to protect our children from drugs (although this is a subject of debate -- see the DARE entry in Wikipedia for more information).

Personality

Daryl F Gates was known to be an outspoken Chief who would back his officers up provided they were doing the right thing. Some sections of the media took a dislike to Gates for his plain speaking up-front nature and often seized upon comments to try and portray him as a racist or bigot.

Many commentators criticised Gates for Operation Hammer, a pro-active policing operation conducted by the LAPD in the South Central district. After a group of people at a birthday party were shot down on their front lawn in a drive by shooting, the Chief decided to send in 1000 officers to clean up the area and take it back from the gangs. People were scared to eat dinner in the evenings because of the shootings, and were eating on the floor for their own protection. The Chief decided enough was enough. The media tried to suggest that the operation was harassment, despite the fact that charges were filed on 70% of the suspects arrested in Operation Hammer. Dispelling the disgraceful myth that the police were an "occupying force", Chief Gates was asked in a PBS interview whether the local people in the minority areas expressed thanks to the police:

"Sure. The good people did all the time. But the community activists? No. Absolutely not. We were out there oppressing whatever the community had to be, whether it was blacks, or Hispanics. We were oppressing them. Nonsense. We're out there trying to save their communities, trying to upgrade the quality of life of people. . . . "

LA riots

The 1992 LA riots brought an end to Gates's police career. Following the beating of Rodney King, and the subsequent not guilty verdicts for the officers involved, rioting once again broke out in Los Angeles. The scenes were some of the worst seen in contemporary America and shocked viewers across the world. Minority residents took violently to the street, some of them causing millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and businesses. White truck driver Reginald Oliver Denny, was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by an angry mob of blacks as the news helicopters hovered above. Others were also beaten. Fearing retribution, the police fell back, giving the rioters free run of the city. Order was restored when the National Guard was mobilized, but the damage to public confidence remained.

In the fallout from the riots extreme pressure was put on Chief Gates to leave his job as Chief. The media painted LAPD as a racist army that was in need of reform, and Gates came to personify its sins. There are also rumours that federal politics were at work as this was an election year. A report was commissioned headed by prominent Los Angeles Attorney Warren Christopher which made 140 recommendations for changes in the department. Chief Gates implemented 94 of these before he left and most had already been started before this report had even been published.

Under pressure and in order to protect his officers and department from the criticism that was often aimed at him personally, he resigned, after 14 years as chief, ending an era in the department's history.

After LAPD

Gates remained active after leaving the LAPD, working with Sierra to create a computer game - Police Quest 4 Open Season, an adventure game set in Los Angeles where gamers play the role of a Robbery Homicide detective to solve a series of brutal murders. He puts in a cameo in the game as Chief and can be found on one of the top floors of Parker Center. In addition, Daryl F Gates is the creator of the SWAT series of games also for Sierra, appearing in many of these games too.

He also runs an investigation company called CHIEF and has made frequent appearances on television and radio shows.

In 2002, at the age of 75, he told CNN that he was intending on applying for his old job as Chief, after Chief Parks failed to get another 5 year term. Gates was not re-appointed as Chief, and William J. Bratton was appointed instead to head-up the department.