Willie L. Williams

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Willie L. Williams served as LAPD police chief 1992-1997 after Daryl F. Gates' resignation due to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The first African-American police chief in Los Angeles, Williams came from Philadelphia after serving as Deputy Chief of the Philadelphia Police Department since 1988. During his reign in L.A., he tried to close the rift created between the police and black neighborhoods by supporting a positive LAPD public image. In 1996, Williams published his co-written book titled Taking Back Our Streets: Fighting Crime in America.

[edit] Cultural References

"Wicked" by Ice Cube

"Wicked" by Korn

Chief Williams is also mentioned in the 1998 movie American History X. While his family and his mother's boyfriend sit down at a dinner table to eat, Edward Norton discusses the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and claims that had Willie Williams been police chief instead of Daryl Gates, Los Angeles African Americans would not have rioted.

[edit] Resources

• Pick the Best Chief, Period. Los Angeles Times Jul 29, 2002.

Police Appointments
Preceded by Daryl Gates	Chief of Los Angeles Police Department 1992–1997	Succeeded by Bayan Lewis