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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Watts Policing: Then and Now

    Back in the 1960s, LAPD Chief William Parker turned the department into an elite force of militarized troops. Its soldiers exacted swift and often brutal justice in black neighborhoods. Even after Watts erupted in 1965, policing stayed much the same through the ‘90s. But what about today?

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    By Madeleine Brand • Dec 18, 2015 • 1 min read

    Back in the 1960s, LAPD Chief William Parker turned the department into an elite force of militarized troops. Its soldiers exacted swift and often brutal justice in black neighborhoods. Even after Watts erupted in 1965, policing stayed much the same through the ‘90s. But what about today? Madeleine goes into the field to get a ground-level view of policing South L.A. today and how it compares to past eras.

    This segment first aired on 8/13/15.

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Policing and South L.A.
    1. 0:00'Blue' Explores LAPD Corruption
    2. 15:24Watts Policing: Then and NowYou’re reading this
    3. 30:43'Ghettoside'
    4. 45:12South L.A. to SOLA?
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jolie Myers

      Managing Producer, 'Press Play'

      News

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Policing and South L.A.
    1. 0:00'Blue' Explores LAPD Corruption
    2. 15:24Watts Policing: Then and NowYou’re reading this
    3. 30:43'Ghettoside'
    4. 45:12South L.A. to SOLA?
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand