Los Angeles Police Department

As the mood of the crowd outside the Staples Center turned quickly from jubilation over a Lakers victory to something more destructive, Los Angeles police knew they had to finely calibrate their response to avoid the public relations debacles of the department's recent past. Officers had to control a group of "knuckleheads," in the words of Los Angeles Police Chief William J.

In a victory for the Los Angeles Police Department, a judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit filed by the mother of a toddler killed by a SWAT officer's bullet during an attempted hostage rescue in 2005. The case before L.A. County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu was set to go to the jury this week after SWAT officers and police experts completed their testimony in a two-week trial.

In announcing his decision Wednesday to step down as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and reenter the private sector, William J. Bratton turned a spotlight on the firm that has hired him. Altegrity is a company with several thousand employees and a significant presence in a secretive industry that, among other things, provides businesses and government agencies with intelligence-gathering and other investigative services.

Appointing a new police chief will be "the most important decision I make as mayor," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday as he indicated that he favors a candidate who would largely continue the policies of departing Chief William J. Bratton rather than shake up the Police Department. "The next chief has got to be someone who has the respect of the men and women of the LAPD," Villaraigosa said after an appearance with Bratton in Hollywood.

There is never a good good time to leave a job you love with people you like and respect. But there is a right time, as I told Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday. And for me, professionally and personally, this is the right time to leave my job as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Since my appointment by Mayor James Hahn to head this extraordinary department in 2002, I have had the opportunity to work with 13,000 extraordinary men and women and to travel with them on an exciting and rewarding journey -- through good times and bad -- meeting crises, challenges and opportunities with consistent integrity, optimism, confidence and resolve.

The day after he stunned the city with word that he would resign as chief of police, William J. Bratton sat in the relative quiet of his office collecting his thoughts. Every minute or two his cellphone buzzed to life, alerting him to yet another call from another surprised friend or colleague that would have to be returned after the stack of messages on his desk already awaiting his attention. As aides outside the closed door spoke in hushed tones about the idea of life after Bratton, the chief reflected on the department and city he will leave behind at the end of October after nearly seven years on the job. He explained why he believes so strongly that his replacement should come from inside the Los Angeles Police Department and discussed the particular strengths he sees in each of the presumed front-runners.

The story you are about to read is true. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent. The television series "Dragnet," which first aired more than 50 years ago, ensured the Los Angeles Police Department's place in Hollywood lore. Now the department is helping return the favor by hosting an event Tuesday at the Police Academy in Elysian Park to commemorate the release of a "Dragnet" postage stamp, authorities said. A program will include the widow of actor Jack Webb, who played LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday; actor Harry Morgan, who played Friday's partner; and LAPD Chief William J. Bratton.

The general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has been placed on administrative leave by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa amid a police investigation into a rape allegation made against him. Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating allegations by a woman who says Andrew Adelman raped her last month at his downtown condominium, according to court documents obtained Tuesday. Adelman has not been arrested or charged. Adelman's attorney, Mark Geragos, stressed that the accusations have not been proved.

A veteran Los Angeles police officer involved in a controversial shooting more than a decade ago opened fire last week on a group of robbery suspects after one allegedly brandished a gun, according to police. In the afternoon of Aug. 6, Det. Jeff Nolte and his partner, Det. Donald Walthers, who both have worked as LAPD officers for about 20 years, were tracking a group of people suspected in a series of recent robberies in South Los Angeles. The pair were assigned to the department's elite Special Investigation Section.

Eighteen months ago, I wrote a memo identifying long-term barriers to permanent transformation of the Los Angeles Police Department. I've written a lot of memos about the department over the years in preparation for lawsuits, but this one was prepared at the request of the LAPD's top commanders. That's something that never would have happened seven years ago. Back then, in the pre-William Bratton era, I and my memo would have been summarily shredded. But under Bratton, not only was outside criticism invited, he assigned his first assistant chief to work through the issues.