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The S.W.A.T. Squad. Every frontline policeman in Los Angeles has been through a three-day riot-control school, and all have been told exactly what to do in event of riot. Officers would no longer work as individuals, but would be assigned to highly mobile, rapidly moving squads. "One man, operating as one man," says Reddin, "can control only one man. One man as part of a squad of ten can control several hundred people." When should a policeman shoot to kill? Reddin is notably evasive, refusing even to outline a situation when he himself would fire his revolver. Ultimately in Los Angeles, the decision is left up to the individual cop. Two hundred marksmen have been assigned to a squad named S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics), designed to pick off snipers and to eliminate, presumably, the need for indiscriminate police gunfire, which took innocent victims in Newark and Detroit last year. On the target range they can hit the head of a man's silhouette at 300 yards. A $25,000 trailer has been fitted out as a mobile command post, with an armored underside to fend off Molotov cocktails, and a smaller van is available for secondary commanders. Fibre shields, straight out of Ivanhoe, and bulletproof vests have been bought for men in danger areas. The force this summer will have nearly 700 walkie-talkies (v. 58 in 1965) to link commanders with front-line cops.
Potential riots are far from the only problem. Los Angeles recorded an 8.1% crime rise in 1967 over 1966. Because of its sprawling size, which isolates branch offices and gives any getaway car 1,000 escape routes, it is No. 1 in bank robberies. Because of its proximity to Mexico, it is the marijuana capital of the world. The L.A.P.D. seized 21 tons of grass last year, enough to orbit a good-size army. Because of its balmy climate, it has, notes the chief, a "twelvemonth crime culture."
To cope with all this, Los Angeles has the smallest force in the country, relative to population (an estimated 2,840,632) and area (463.6 sq. mi.). The city employs only 1.9 cops per 1,000 residents v. 2.8 in Chicago, 3.2 in New York. Yet man for man, in part because the force is so highly motorized, it is probably one of the most efficient. The L.A.P.D. has a higher percentage of civilians than any other big-city force (three civilians for every ten in uniform); they handle many tasks, such as clerical work and traffic direction, that elsewhere sworn policemen usually perform, thus freeing all but a few regulars for active law-enforcement duty. An elite team of 225, known as the "Top Group," has been organized for special assignments, such as nabbing organized car-theft rings or stickup artists. A "community radio watch," composed of cabbies and truck drivers who have two-way radios, is being formed to alert police to violations. Eventually, Reddin guesses, the radio watchers could add 60,000 pairs of eyes without any cost to the police-surveillance network. Another laborsaving device is a new $450,000 computer, financed by the Federal Government, that will not only cut down on paper work but also, by constantly pinpointing changing crime target areas, will help commanders assign patrols when and where they are needed.