L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City

Sitting in the audience: In response to a question from Commissioner Johnson about integration in the department, Parker insisted, in effect, that the department already was integrated—but in a very sly fashion. “Officers may be assigned together and sometimes they are, but not as a matter of discrimination, no …” the Chief replied. Consciously mingling partners would be nothing more than “reverse discrimination.” Parker attempted a similar move when asked to name the highest-ranking black officers in the department. Parker pointed to Lt Roscoe Washington and said the only thing holding him back was his performance on the written exam—this despite the fact that black officers routinely received low oral evaluations. By insisting the problem was a written exam—no bias there!—Parker was, with lawyerly skill, deflecting attention away from the problem of orals scores.

Never slow to respond: “Racial Bias Accusations False, Says Chief Parker. Explains Police Problem,” Los Angeles Mirror-News, January 27, 1960, A.

It didn’t. Forced to: “Council Hears Parker’s Recording on ‘Wild Tribes,’ Chief Denies Slur, Refuses to Apologize,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1960. See also “Demagoguery Loses a Round,” Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1960.

Chapter Twenty-four: Showgirls

“Girls very often like …”: Hecht manuscript, 39 Hecht Papers, Newberry Library.

The rules were strict: “Lid Off L.A.!” Coates, Los Angeles Mirror-News, February 15, 1952.

Candy Barr was striptease: Shteir, Striptease, 297.

Ordinary women were a: Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, xii-xiii.

By the spring of: Ryan, “Dot-dot-dot—It’s Just Like Downtown,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1959, B5.

Renay had long been: “Liz Renay Indicted on Perjury Charges: Mickey Cohen’s Actress Friend Accused of Lying About Raising $5,500 in Loans,” Los Angeles Times, March 13, 1959, 4.

Inwardly, Mickey grieved: Hulse, “Mickey Cohen to Wed Striptease Dancer, 22,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1959, 4.

On December 2, 1959: “Cohen Suspect in Slaying, Restaurant’s Guests Flee After Shooting,” Los Angeles Mirror-News, December 3, 1959; Cohen, “Cohen’s Own Story of Cafe Shooting,” Los Angeles Herald, December 3, 1959. For more background on Whalen, see also Lieberman, “Cop Befriends a Crook,” Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2008.

“A man walked in …”: Korman, “Hoodlum Shot to Death, Victim Ripe for Killing, Police Report,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 4, 1950, 14.

“Obviously, he is,”: “Shooting Takes Place Six Feet from Mickey,” Los Angeles Mirror-News, December 3, 1958.

The police then got: “Mickey Cohen Jailed in Murder of Bookie,” Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1959, 1.

Six days later: “Slayer of Bookmaker Surrenders to Police,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1959, 1.

Brown called in Chief: “Witnesses Deny They Saw Whalen Shooting,” Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1960, B32. See also Lieberman, “Noir Justice Catches Up with Mickey Cohen,” Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2008; “Admits Slaying Bookie, Claims It Was ‘Self Defense,’” Los Angeles Examiner, December 9, 1959.

Prosecutors tried to put: Lieberman, “Noir Justice Catches Up with Mickey Cohen,” Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2008.

The Whalen shooting quickly: Blake, “First Such Convention in City Brings With It Host of New Problems,” Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1960.

The convention began under: “Kennedy’s ‘Pad’ in L.A.—Dirty Shirts and Disorder,” San Francisco Call-Bulletin, July 15, 1960.

From the start, Parker: “Noise, Cheers, Applause, Songs—and 3 Candidates,” Kansas City Times, April 11, 1960; “Big Squeeze Boosts Police for Kennedy,” Los Angeles Mirror, July 11, 1960.

The LAPD also proved: Fleming, “Stevenson Supporters Try to Invade Arena, Extra Police Rushed to Entrance as Chanting Crowd of 600 Mills About,” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1960.

By all accounts, the: See, for instance, “The Bright Badge of the L.A.P.D.,” Los Angeles Times editorial, August 9, 1960, B4.

“Eating out of the …”: Russo, The Outfit, 407.

Parker was delighted.: “Parker Hails Kennedy as Crime Foe,” Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1960, 12; “Chief Parker May Head US Crime Probers,” Los Angeles Herald-Express, December 22, 1960.

To the sixty-six: Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life, 114.

“I have a high: “Chief Parker May Head US Crime Probers,” Los Angeles Herald-Express, December 22, 1960; White, “Parker Takes Swipe at FBI,” Los Angeles Mirror, December 22, 1960.