MovieChat Forums > Gangster Squad (2013) Discussion > Black police officer?

Black police officer?

posted 10 years ago by Travis_Bickle92
21 replies | jump to latest

It seemed a little strange to me that there was a black (and a Hispanic) police officer portrayed in this film. I realize that the film is by no means 100% accurate, but does any one know if black men were allowed to serve as police officers in the US as early as 1949? This was long before the civil right movement.

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[–] brucieb21-837-527965 10 years ago

I was thinking the exact same thing.... I did a little research and there were indeed blacks in law enforcement starting in the late 1800's but you basically had to be the Jackie Robinson of policing to be sworn in and it was hell trying to get promoted or be treated fairly especially in the NYPD.

[–] eddiehasskills 10 years ago

me and the wife said the same. Black people weren't treated civil in the 40s so how could they have a civil job as a cop of all jobs? Lol totally forgot about the Mexican cop. I'm telling u this movie was like an reenactment of a actually movie at Universal Studios theme park. It was like they picked people out of the audience to come on stage

[–] BanksForShort 10 years ago

The first African-American officer in L.A. was in 1886.

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[–] Flinstone 10 years ago

Yeah. In 1940 there even were black lieutnants in LAPD.

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[–] goleafsgo27 10 years ago

Also in 1940, a young black man who was a star student athlete at UCLA left that behind to become an LAPD officer. His name was Tom Bradley. About 10% of the 4,000 people on that force were black. There was pretty strict segregation in effect, limits on what duties they could be assigned, and yes, restaurants that would not serve them. The black officers could not be paired with white officers. Officer Bradley studied law, got elected to the City Council, and in 1973 was elected mayor, a post he held for 20 years.

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[–] Josephll 10 years ago

Where do you get that info from? Blacks in the state of California made up 0.7% in 1880 and 4.4% in 1950. There can't have been too many black cops back then.

[–] jason_75 10 years ago

http://www.lapdonline.org/home/content_basic_view/47101
Plus, we're talking about the city of L.A. not the entire state of California, so I don't know why you even brought that up.

[–] BDCNewYork 10 years ago

I'm always surprised that people think that people of color were only allowed to do things post-1964. The bigger issue is that most people don't read history and there is not enough accessible material regarding this important aspect of history broadly speaking.

[–] benbo-3 10 years ago

Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, and Harry Belafonte were all WW2 vets. There were some Black units that saw combat, like the famed Tuskeegee Airmen & 333rd Artillery Battalion, which fought heroically in the Battle of the Bulge. So, there was a decent pool of Black ex-servicemen returning home post-war who had discipline, basic training, at least knew how to handle a gun, and some with actual combat experience. A police dept. recruiter would respect their service. Keeping in mind L.A. was always more liberal and not the Deep South, a Black cop in 1949 doesn't look as out of place as say, a Black mayor or Senator would. Considering the pool of vets, some of whom were highly motivated to make it in America post-war, a Black cop is credible. The icing on the cake is that our armed forces were desegregated the year before, so America was gonna get used it.

[–] hathawayj1 10 years ago

Its nice to see that someone actually real history. Most people belive history starts the day they were born, and make crap up to fit their regressive agenda.

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

Why wasn't there featured a prominent Korean detective in this film? This movie fails the rainbow coalition test. Racism is still alive and well in Hollywood and this film proves it.

[–] jjess_2001 10 years ago

lolwhat. How sizable was the Los Angeles Korean population back in 1949?

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

jjess_2001 wrote:

lolwhat. How sizable was the Los Angeles Korean population back in 1949?

It's plausible. I heard there was one by 1947. Asians always get slighted by Hollywood, and nobody ever takes their whining seriously like they do with the black.

[–] Mattfinbell 10 years ago

jjess_2001 wrote:

lolwhat. How sizable was the Los Angeles Korean population back in 1949?

It's plausible. I heard there was one by 1947. Asians always get slighted by Hollywood, and nobody ever takes their whining seriously like they do with the black.

when did they become FBI agents?

Plus there is still nothing on the Chinese Triads or Japanese Yakuza

[–] koosdelarey20 10 years ago

Most Hollywood films are obsessed with the token black guy in the world of white men. If Hollywood were to be believed, there were blacks on the moon when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on it.

[–] cinecephale 10 years ago

There were black police officer in the forties. Most worked within their own community, like we see in the film. It must have been a difficult and delicate position of course. But it is not becase there weren't many that we shoud forget them.

[–] draftdubya-274-182961 9 years ago

The world of white men? WTF do the suppose to mean? Do you write books for the Texas board of ed?

[–] darkgable75 9 years ago

I just finished watching the movie and came here specifically to see how many people would complain about the black cop. Your comment is particularly pathetic because even after being presented with facts about black cops during that era, you still have an issue.

Oh well, carry on.

[–] phantomF-12 10 years ago

Someone had to police the black communities.

[–] phindar 9 years ago

Atlanta introduced black police officers in the '50's.