officers - The Black Vault

• •
world~{rom the East, tha:t had clean. ·
. government and clean cops, has slipped
away.
.•
Not entirely, perhaps·. I am not arguing
that L.A. has turned into Philadelphia. But
the sense of remove about California has ·
been eroded in a serious way. We have
watched our cops using th~ir batons like
rubber hos.es just as, a year ago, we. watched
our Sacramento legislators taking their
bribes in fat envelopes.
So it's become much harder to believe
'that California is exempt from the petty
corruptions and viciousness of the old world
back East. The distinctions between their
' · world and ours.have blurred.
·o
And m~ybe that's not all bad, if we finally
see the lies behind the television version of
ourselves. · ·
I remember. one episode of "Dragnet" in
which Sgt. Friday was forced to visit the
East Coast during an investigation. He had a
terrible time. It snowed, the crooks turned
out to have connections in the Police
Department, and Joe ca'ught a cold.
He was so happy to get home. Life was
• simply better here, he said. In L.A. you
- knew who the good guys were and who thE;!
crooks wer~.
No more, Joe. But thanks for the
m~mories.