Book · 1993 · Biography & Autobiography
Chief
My Life in the LAPD
Why people recommend it
Chief by Daryl F. Gates is the revealing autobiography of the controversial former Los Angeles Police Department chief, detailing his decades-long career and the creation of specialized police units. Robert Evans discussed the autobiography on the podcast Behind the Bastards during the episode Part One: Daryl Gates: The Man Who Invented SWAT Teams and DARE. He noted that skimming the first few chapters of the table of contents provides deep insight into Gates's life and mindset following his tenure in law enforcement. In Part Two of the series, Evans returned to the book to explain the exact origins of the Special Weapons and Tactics unit. Quoting directly from Chief, Evans described how Gates walked into his deputy chief's office with a big smile to announce he had thought up a new acronym for his specialized unit. Through these discussions, the book serves as a primary source for understanding the institutional mindset that shaped modern American policing, offering firsthand perspectives from a figure who left a lasting, highly debated imprint on urban law enforcement strategies and community relations in Los Angeles.
Who recommended it
- Robert Evans Discussed
Robert Evans — 2 mentions
“And to give that story, I'm going to quote from Gates's book Chief. One day with a big smile on my face, I popped in to tell my deputy chief Ed Davis that I'd thought up a new acronym for my special new unit.”
“His autobiography was biography was just called Chief, and you can tell a lot about his life by just skimming the first few chapters of the table of conference contents.”