Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the police department of the City of Los Angeles, California. With over 9,000 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of 473 square miles with a population of nearly 4 million people, it is the third largest law enforcement agency in the United States (trailing behind the New York Police Department and Chicago Police Department). The LAPD has had a rich history, including occasional incidents of brutality and corruption. The agency is famous world wide and has been heavily fictionalized in numerous movies and television shows.

For decades, the department has suffered from chronic underfunding. In comparison to most large cities, it has one of the lowest ratios of police personnel to population served; the current chief, William J. Bratton, has made enlarging the force one of his top priorities. (Bratton has been quoted as saying, "You give me 4000 more officers and I'll give you the safest city in the world.")

As a result, Los Angeles residents subscribe heavily to private security services, which in turn are a far more common sight in Los Angeles than in most other cities.