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

The charge emerged from: The residents of Chavez Ravine would later be evicted for another reason—to make way for Dodger Stadium.

Bowron had no interest: Sitton, Los Angeles Transformed, 171.

In December 1952: The Cadillac soon broke down, and Poulson replaced it with a fuel-efficient Rambler, much to the horror of West Coast oil and gas companies. Parson, Making a Better World, 127; Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 132-34.

“I just casually reached …”: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 144.

“They would say that…”: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 144.

the House Subcommittee on: “Verbal Battles by Lawyers Rock Public Housing Quiz,” Los Angeles Times, May 21, 1953. Parson, Making a Better World, 203-208, provides a complete transcript of the LAPD’s Wilkinson file.

“I talked in circles,”: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 144-45.

Chapter Eighteen: The Magna Carta of the Criminal

“The voice of the …”: Webb, The Badge, 244.

Accardo’s party proceeded to: Russo, The Outfit, 302. The Los Angeles Mirror presents a slightly different version of the incident, which features a verbal confrontation at the airport. “Chicago Hoodlum Chased by Cops, Goes to ‘Vegas,’” Mirror, January 16, 1953. See also Davidson, “The Mafia Can’t Crack Los Angeles,” Saturday Evening Post, July 31, 1965. Fittingly, Perino’s was also a famous gangster-movie restaurant, a place that featured in such films as Scarface, Bugsy, and Mulholland Drive. It was torn down in the spring of 2005 (http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2005/04/perinos-no-more.html, accessed July 16, 2008).

Then there were the: Parker to Rev. John Birth, director, Catholic Youth Organization, April 28, 1953, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. See Weeks, “Story of Chief Parker, Enemy of the Criminal,” for a disingenuous attempt to explain away the “personal” intelligence files. Los Angeles Mirror, June 17, 1957, 1.

The potential for the: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 140. The Daily News was speaking out against a proposal that surfaced that summer to give the police chief even more power over the department. “Give Police Board, not the Chief, More Power,” Los Angeles Daily News, July 2, 1953; Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1953.

There was a third: Coates, “Midnight Memo to the Mayor,” Los Angeles Mirror, July 20, 1953; Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 140, 147.

“Chief Parker is to …”: “Poulson Pledges War on Gangsters: Mayor-Elect Maps Plans with Parker; Shake-Up of Police Commission Indicated,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1953.

Although he had concluded: Poulson, The Genealogy and Life Story, 147; “4 Named to Police Board by Poulson,” Hollywood Citizen-News, July 2,1953.

The message Poulson intended: Woods, “The Progressives and the Police,” 151-52.

“Until these recommendations …”: Irey, “An Open Letter to the Mayor: Ex-Official Tells LA Police Stymie,” Los Angeles Mirror, July 13, 1953; Irey, “Police Dept. ‘Split’ Bared,” Los Angeles Mirror, July 14, 1953.

“Hardly anyone likes Parker, …”: Parker’s relationship with the press had taken a turn for the worse earlier in the year, when he shut down a poker game involving reporters and the police that had been going on since time immemorial. At the chief’s insistence, a sign was put up that read “No more card playing. By order of the Chief of Police.” Parker would later claim that he was moved to act after discovering that one unfortunate reporter had run up a $2,000 debt. The press itself seems to have viewed the crackdown case as pure vindictiveness. In a scathing story about the controversy, the Daily News complained of the chief’s “incredible inability to get along with newsmen or take criticism.” “Speaking of Snoopers,” Los Angeles Daily News, January 19, 1953.