The Watts riots,sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising,took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16,1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abusive practices of the Los Angeles Police Department,as well as grievances over employment discrimination,residential segregation,and poverty in L.A.
Paul K. Tanaka is an American convicted felon,former politician,and former law enforcement officer who served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department until his conviction in 2016. He was convicted April 4,2016,in Federal Court of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Tanaka served as Undersheriff of Los Angeles County from 2011 to 2013. He was also mayor of the City of Gardena,California. His tenure has provoked controversy due to allegations of violence,corruption,and alleged membership in the Lynwood Vikings,a deputy gang,which was described as a "neo-Nazi,white supremacist gang" by a federal judge.
The Long Beach Police Department provides law enforcement for the city of Long Beach,California.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD),officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department,is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County,California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States and the third largest local police agency in the United States,following the New York Police Department,and the Chicago Police Department. LASD has approximately 18,000 employees,9,915 sworn deputies and 9,244 unsworn members. It is sometimes confused with the similarly-named but separate Los Angeles Police Department which provides law enforcement services within the city of Los Angeles,which is the county seat of Los Angeles County,although both departments have their headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
George Gascón is an American attorney and former police officer who served as the District Attorney of Los Angeles County from December 7,2020 to December 3,2024. A member of the Democratic Party and a former member of the Republican Party,Gascón served as the district attorney of San Francisco from 2011 to 2019. Prior to his work as a prosecutor,he was an assistant chief of police for the LAPD,and Chief of Police in Mesa,Arizona and San Francisco.
Men's Central Jail is a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department county jail for men in Los Angeles,Los Angeles County,California,United States. Built in 1963,it is one of the oldest county jails in California. The Men's Central Jail is located at 441 Bauchet St.,Los Angeles 90012. The Men's Central Jail houses men who are awaiting trial or who have been convicted of crimes.
Robert Julio Garcia is a Peruvian American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for California's 42nd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as the 28th mayor of Long Beach,California from 2014 to 2022. He was both the city's youngest and first elected openly LGBT mayor,as well as the first Latino to hold the office. He is the second person of color to be mayor of Long Beach,after Republican Eunice Sato,a Japanese-American who served from 1980 to 1982. A former member of the Long Beach City Council,he was vice mayor from 2012 to 2014.
James McDonnell is an American law enforcement officer who has been the 59th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department since November 8,2024.
The killing of Douglas Zerby occurred on December 12,2010,in Long Beach,California. Zerby,who was unarmed,was shot twelve times by two Long Beach Police Department officers while playing with a garden hose nozzle. They claimed that they mistook the hose nozzle for a gun and fired at Zerby,killing him,and did not make any verbal warnings or commands. It was later discovered through audio recordings of the officers radios that a house phone rang,startling an officer causing him to shoot. The other officers fired once the first shooter did,blaming it on "contagious fire," proving the officers,were not trained well.
Stephen Downing is an American screenwriter,producer,activist,and investigative journalist who began his screenwriting career in the 1960s while still working as a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer. Most of Downing's pre-1980 writing and producing credits appeared under pseudonyms to escape notice of the LAPD. Downing is active in the movement to end the international war on drugs and the militarization of police in America. In 2011,Downing became a board member of Law Enforcement Action Partnership,formerly known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP),after years representing the group as a speaker. He left the board in 2019,but is still an advisory board member who gives speeches and writes op-ed pieces on behalf of the group. He also volunteers his time as an investigative journalist,with a focus on police corruption and reform,for a local print newspaper in Long Beach,California. As a television producer and screenwriter he is best known for the series Walking Tall,RoboCop:The Series,T. J. Hooker and MacGyver.
Kathryn Ann Barger-Leibrich is an American politician,serving as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 5th District since 2016 and is the Chair of Los Angeles County. A member of the Republican Party,Barger served as Chair of Los Angeles County from 2019–2020 and 2024–present. She previously served as Chief Deputy Supervisor and Chief of Staff to her predecessor Mayor Michael D. Antonovich.
Alejandro Villanueva is an American law enforcement officer who served as the 33rd sheriff of Los Angeles County,California from 2018 until 2022. He defeated incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell in the 2018 L.A. County Sheriff's race,making him the first to unseat an incumbent in over 100 years. Before becoming Sheriff,he was a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) is one of two police unions for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) officers,the other being the Los Angeles Sheriff's Professional Association (LASPA).
Andres Guardado was an 18-year-old Salvadoran-American man shot in the back and killed by a deputy sheriff from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on June 18,2020,in the unincorporated community of West Rancho Dominguez,California,just outside of the Harbor Gateway section of the City of Los Angeles. Guardado ran from two uniformed police officers into an alley,where he died after being shot by deputies. Seven shots were fired and Guardado was hit in the upper torso. Police say that Guardado produced a handgun during the chase. Investigators do not believe it was fired. Accounts of the incident are disputed between police and witnesses. Police stated they were searching for footage of the incident. Store-owner Andrew Heney reported that several cameras at the scene,including a digital video recorder that stored surveillance footage,were taken and destroyed by police.
Dijon Kizzee,an African-American man,was shot and killed in the Los Angeles County community of Westmont on August 31,2020,by deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD). For days,protesters gathered outside the South Los Angeles sheriff's station. By September 6,those demonstrations had escalated to clashes,with deputies firing projectiles and tear gas at the crowds and arresting 35 people over four nights of unrest.
The 2022 Los Angeles County elections were held on November 8,2022,in Los Angeles County,California,with nonpartisan blanket primary elections for certain offices being held on June 7. Two of the five seats of the Board of Supervisors were up for election,as well as two of the countywide elected officials,the Sheriff and the Assessor. In addition,elections were held for the Superior Court,along with two ballot measures.
The 2022 Long Beach mayoral election was held on June 7,2022. Because no candidate reached 50% of the vote,there was a runoff election on November 8,2022. Although incumbent Mayor Robert Garcia was eligible to run for a third term,he opted to run for the U.S. House instead. Rex Richardson was elected mayor,defeating Suzie Price.
Rex Richardson is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Long Beach,California since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party,Richardson previously served as a member of the Long Beach City Council,representing the 9th District from 2014 until 2022.
The 2024 Los Angeles County elections were held on November 5,2024,in Los Angeles County,California,with nonpartisan blanket primary elections for certain offices being held on March 5. Three of the five seats of the Board of Supervisors were up for election,as well as one of the countywide elected officials,the District Attorney. In addition,elections were held for the Superior Court,along with two ballot measures.
Max Huntsman is an American attorney who became the first Inspector General of Los Angeles County,California in 2013. He is recognized for his oversight of the county's law enforcement agencies,with a focus on constitutional policing and justice administration. Huntsman graduated from Yale Law School and started his career as a civil servant in 1991,at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office,where he handled political corruption and police misconduct cases.
