If you've smoked a joint, you can run for Congress, the Senate, or even the White House, so why can't you be an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department? Today's LA Times reports that Chief William Bratton wants to ease -zero tolerance- recruitment standards, especially when it comes to marijuana use and credit problems, in an attempt to increase new recruits and bring the force up to 10,000 officers in the next year. That's reportedly started a big debate within the department, though the Chief's office says the proposal is just in the talking stage. We hear the pros and cons from Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, retired LAPD Sergeant Rod Bernsen, and Eugene O'Donnell, who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
- Reporter's Notebook: LA Times Names David Ulin New Book Editor
Steve Wasserman, LA Times Book Editor for almost 10 years, resigned in May after reports of disagreements about editorial supervision. Last week, the Times announced Wasserman's replacement. Author David Ulin has edited prestigious anthologies of other Los Angeles writers and served as book editor of the now-defunct LA Reader. He speaks with us about the plans he'll undertake when he assumes his new position in October.
Los Angeles Times on LAPD possibly relaxing hiring rules
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
LA Police Protective League
LA Times names David Ulin Book Editor
Ulin's The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith
Rachel Donadio's New York Times article on V. S. Naipaul
Jane Smiley's Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel
