Why Do We Love Car Chases? It's Live Reality TV

Is it possible that our silly Los Angeles car pursuits are getting better and better? Coverage of them is totally ridiculous and unwarranted, and I'm embarrassed to be so enthralled with them. And yet... the compelling question of How will it end? is enough to keep us glued to the screen. Today's pursuit, down Ventura in the Valley, was no exception.



A slow speed chase, featuring a man in a car with a sign that read "Victory Parade." As he inched down Ventura, he waved at pedestrians and took his time, as LAPD crawled behind him.



Finally, a man jumped into the street, stood in front of the car--forcing him to stop. The man then grabbed the driver, stuck him on the hood of a LAPD cruiser... and both guys promptly got arrested. It's live reality TV.

The Most Bizarre Police "Chase" Ever?

Viewers of KCBS 2, KNBC 4, KTLA 5, KABC 7 and KTTV 11 on Tuesday evening were treated to what was alternately both the dullest and most unusual car chase in recent memory. First, it wasn't actually a car, but a tow truck. But secondly, the guy was following most traffic rules -- stopping at intersections, allowing other drivers to go and mostly following the speed limit. The LAPD was behind him, taking their time as well... and allowing news vans to join the chase.

An LAPD spokesman even mentioned on air that this wasn't a big deal, that they were basically going to let him keep driving. (And whatever the infraction was, it seemed pretty minor. Check out the details on the KABC screen grab above. We're having a chase... for that??) Channel 7 relied on a 14-year-old eyewitness for some shaky details, while Channel 4 reporter Robert Kovacik decided to saunter up to the driver's window and talk to him -- and then tout an "exclusive" that consisted of an exchange of maybe two sentences.

The driver finally entered Glendale, where eager Glendale Police officers decided to one-up their LAPD counterparts and finally arrest the dude at around 6:40 p.m. As usual, it was a complete waste of time (remember, the stations blow out their commercials when they go with wall-to-wall chase coverage) and yet you couldn't stop watching.

Only in L.A., kids, only in L.A.

Wow: Video of Today's Hollywood Shootout

Via the Twitvid account of Rich Kingston, who took video today of a gunman shooting randomly at people and cars at the Sunset and Vine intersection. (LAPD rushed to the scene and shot the gunman, who died. At least one person was struck by the gunman, according to the L.A. Times, but it looks like he will survive.) Kingston appears to have taken the video from the Los Angeles Film School building; watch as cars speed out of the way once they realize they're in danger.

Quite a video, but the L.A. Times has an scarier, close-up one here. And a third video has apparently been sold to news outlets. That's what happens when you shoot up a major intersection in Los Angeles -- there's video coverage from every angle.

CNN on Rodney King, 20 Years Later

It's now been 20 years since the Rodney King beating, which took place on March 3, 1991. That event, which occurred after a high-speed chase, changed the direction of Los Angeles and the LAPD (leading, of course, to the 1992 civil unrest). CNN will mark the anniversary with a special, "Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King," which debuts Friday, March 4 at 8 p.m. Don Lemon is the anchor. More details:

King was tasered, kicked, and beaten by officers on the scene. He received more than 50 baton blows that crushed bones, shattered teeth, injured his kidneys, and fractured his skull.

Lemon asked him what thoughts he had during the beating, “Stay alive – I knew I had to survive this,” King tells him in an exclusive interview.

The altercation awakened George Holliday who grabbed his home video camera and filmed the incident. The video became a national sensation and the cornerstone of an excessive force trial against the Los Angeles Police Department.

King became a visual symbol of police brutality, but the officers were acquitted in the original trial. News of the acquittal ignited anger that erupted into riots in Los Angeles that lasted for days. Over 50 people were killed, businesses were looted and burned, and even cities as far away as Atlanta reported violence inspired by the news of the verdict.

Lemon and King revisit the scene of the beating together, retracing the events that altered his life, and the riots that followed. Lemon also speaks with Bobby Green, who famously rescued white truck driver Reginald Denny, who was assailed by a mob at a city intersection during the riots.

A preview of the special is above.

Investigation Discovery Explores 'LA: City of Demons' With James Ellroy

James Ellroy is bringing his take on the dark side of Los Angeles to the Investigation Discovery channel.

"James Ellroy's LA: City of Demons," which debuts Jan. 19, looks at "some of Hollywood's most nihilistically notorious crimes from the past to the present."

In the six-part series, Ellroy will be front and center, talking to witnesses, prosecutors, investigators and jurors. To add an even more surreal sheen to the show, Ellroy's work will be interrupted occasionally by an animated crime dog, "Barko." Seriously.

"Crime is a palpitatingly perennial gas – and L.A. crime is the craaaazy creme-de-la-crime," Ellroy says. "Viewers are terribly tired of the trailer trash tragedies that caustically contaminate documentary TV. They wantonly want to groove, grok, gravitate and glide toward glamorous crime – and L.A. is where all that shimmering sh…stuff…pervertedly percolates. This show will be serious, satirical and great fun."

The show will kick off with Ellroy's personal account of the unsolved 1958 murder of his mother. The show will also look at the mob's relationship with the LAPD; the 1950's tabloids; dead celebrities; and serial killers such as the "Hillside Strangler."

Ellroy, of course, has chronicled the seedy side of L.A. through his books "The Black Dahlia," "The Big Nowhere," "L.A. Confidential" and "White Jazz." Ellroy just released his most recent memoir, "The Hilliker Curse."

"James Ellroy is the preeminent crime writer in the world, today, and provides our audience with an outrageous roller-coaster ride that neither they nor ID ever wants to end," said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager, Investigation Discovery. "Indeed, while Ellroy has said that crime owns him, what is even more fascinating is how this 'Diogenes of the Dark' captivates millions of readers and our audience through his incredible storytelling."

Digital Ranch Prods. is behind the show; Rob Kirk, Rob Lihani; David Cargill and Sara Kozak are executive producers.

Sorry LAPD, No Jetpacks for You

Nope, the LAPD is not spending $1 billion on 10,000 jetpacks. Yeah, that would have been awesome. But I'm guessing if the LAPD stumbled across $1 billion, it would put that money to better use.

The fake story first appeared in famous tabloid the Weekly World News' website. And then, it somehow made it to Fox News' "Fox and Friends." (Watch the video above.) The anchors later caught their error, even if they downplayed it (and never explained how it made it to air in the first place).

Chief Bratton's Exit Interview

There are some things about Los Angeles that William Bratton is going to miss -- but there's plenty that the outgoing Los Angeles Police Dept. chief (who's heading back to New York) won't.

"This is a city that doesn't work in so many respects," said Bratton, who isn't a fan of how diffused the government is here. "There are all these different entities. In New York, all aspects of the criminal justice system are under the mayor. Here, the jails are under the county." And, he added, the idea of a police commission is "redundant."



Speaking at a breakfast thrown on Wednesday morning by Los Angeles magazine, Bratton reflected on his seven years as LAPD chief, and looked to cement his legacy as a boss who brought big changes to what had long been a beleaguered force. Bratton was interviewed by LA mag editor Mary Melton in front of a group at the Foundry on Melrose restaurant.

Despite his frustration with the city and county bureaucracy, the chief said he still believed "there's so much to celebrate here."

Bratton nonetheless is leaving the post fighting, taking aim at City Council plans to reduce the force. Bratton said he believes Los Angeles needs a police force of 12,500, and has brought the number up to 10,000 in recent years -- a growth now in danger of being halted, he said, as the Council appears "intent on dismantling the gains we've made."

If that's the case, then Bratton said the City Council should refund some of the trash fee hike, which he noted was earmarked specifically for public safety.

Meanwhile, Bratton noted that the murder rate has dropped by 400 since he's been in town. Citing a Rand study that calculated the economic cost of a murder in Los Angeles ($4 million per person), the chief calculated his team's impact on the city as $1.6 billion -- more than his annual $1.2 billion budget.

Bratton also defended his decision to keep 300 officers on counterterrorism duty, and spun the recent perjury charges for three officers as a positive thing, noting that the LAPD would have swept such instances under the rug, rather than thoroughly investigate, in the past.

Recalling the early reaction to his plans to reform the LAPD, Bratton mused that the force "was not open to it, not at all." The LAPD, he said, was still reeling from the impact of former chiefs William Parker and Daryl Gates -- a 30-year "legacy of a department that was very inclusive, very self-centered," and suffering from an image that it was racist, brutal and corrupt.

"The department had no sense of image," he said. "They thought they were doing a great job and doing what the public wanted. And they were not."

Bratton led a purge that got rid of much of the old guard; 40% of the LAPD was hired under his watch. With the much of the remaining force hired in the 1990s, Bratton notes that "most of the Parker/Gates generation is now gone." As a result, he said he was "confident" that the culture change in the force is permanent.



Asked what he'll miss about L.A., Bratton -- whose Los Feliz house was just marked down (and will be shown this weekend as an open house) -- said it wasn't the weather, as he's a guy who enjoys the different seasons. As for his proudest achievement, Bratton said he believed race relations have improved in Los Angeles this decade.

"We've turned a corner," he said. "We're maybe further on than the rest of the country."

Bratton hopes that his replacement comes from within the LAPD ranks. No one's been named yet.

On the LA mag front, Mary noted that publication marks its 50th anniversary next year -- and will mark the occasion with larger public gatherings and a series of lookbacks in the magazine. LA mag is also planning a "Future of L.A." event at LACMA.


(It was a breakfast, after all. Here's what I had.)

Quote of the Day: Police Chief Bratton Outs Lindsay Lohan

KNBC caught up with LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, who explained why he thinks a city ordinance controlling the movement of paparazzi is unnecessary:

"If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody, thank god; and, evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue."

Bratton interrupted his workout -- he was still sweaty on camera -- because, he told the station, an earlier KNBC report with Councilman Dennis Zine (who's pushing the new rules) pissed him off.

The LAPD's Big Boy Tricycles

Flickr user Discarted, who took the above pics, is aghast at the LAPD's use of these goofy T3 Motions on Hollywood sidewalks.

Discarted asks:

1. Why are our monthly trash fees increasing to $38 when LAPD has the money to buy ridiculous things like big boy tricycles?
2. Why can't these cops patrol Hollywood Blvd on foot(among the people I might add) instead of wasting money on crap like this, and acting all high and mighty 2 feet above us.
3. Why are teachers being let go, but LAPD has the money to buy some big wheels soaked in HGH.
4. How can a GIANT MACHINE like this be allowed on crowded sidewalks, thus, causing even more congestion? For instance, see those baby stroller wheels on the left side of the frame. A woman had to pull her child and stroller out of the way so these 3 wheeled monstrosities could roll by.
5. Do you think these machines actually create even more animosity between the LA people and the LAPD?

As well as 11 more questions. Those look like fun vehicles to ride -- but, as Discarted notes, the LAPD would probably harrass any civilian riding around on sidewalks on such a vehicle.

(H/t to reader Julie for pointing us to the Discarted post.)