Donner, Frank. Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. 503 pages.
As a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union Project on Political Surveillance and someone who had been identified as a Communist in front of Congressional committees during the 1950s, it's not surprising that Connecticut-based attorney Frank Donner (1911-1993) emerged as the foremost scholar of U.S. domestic political surveillance. He wrote two major books on the subject: "The Age of Surveillance" (1981) on political intelligence by federal agencies, and "Protectors of Privilege" (1990), which looks at surveillance by police departments in major U.S. cities."Protectors of Privilege" is a book that could not have been written had it not been for a broad coalition of citizen groups in major U.S. cities that addressed the issue of police intelligence during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The ACLU and American Friends Service Committee helped with the organizing, and by the mid-1980s many major cities had enacted laws that forced their respective police departments to reveal and/or destroy their political intelligence files, and curtail their activities. This was the case in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia, each of which gets its own chapter in this book. Other chapters cover lesser cities and provide historical background dating from the turn of the century.
National Action/Research on the Military-Industrial Complex. Police on the Homefront: A Collection of Essays Compiled by NARMIC. Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee, 1971. 133 pages.
When Watts burned in 1965, the Pentagon began worrying that local police and state-controlled National Guards were ill-equipped to deal with urban insurgency. Once the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 was passed, a massive infusion of federal funds began pouring into local and state jurisdictions, mostly through a new Justice Department agency called the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA). By 1973 the annual appropriation for LEAA programs approached $2 billion. In 1969 the police received 75 percent of the grants, the jails 8 percent, and the courts 6 percent. Most police departments spent the money on weapons, riot-control equipment, armored cars, helicopters, and computers.This collection of essays on LEAA includes a list of colleges and universities that received LEAA money, abstracts of research grants awarded by LEAA for 1970, a description of some new weapons and computerized data-access systems, and a list of all the state planning agencies for LEAA.
Divisions within U.S. society were deep when this book was published in 1971, and many were concerned about the possibility of a police state. Then Watergate came along and Nixon resigned, relieving much of the pressure.
Rothmiller, Mike and Goldman, Ivan G. L.A. Secret Police: Inside the LAPD Elite Spy Network. New York: Pocket Books, 1992. 246 pages.
Many first became acquainted with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1992, with the videotape of the Rodney King beating and the subsequent riots. This was common fare for la-la land -- peaceful protesters, for example, learned about LAPD brutality in 1967. Ten years later the ACLU and other citizen groups began investigating the Public Disorder Intelligence Division. In 1983, years after the police commission had ordered PDID to destroy more than 50,000 espionage files, many of these files turned up again. The commission then ordered PDID to disband, whereupon it changed its name to the Anti-Terrorist Division. This was a slick move that used the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as an excuse.By 1992, LAPD officer Mike Rothmiller was fed up. He blew the whistle by claiming that the Organized Crime Intelligence Division was the real culprit, while PDID had been more or less a media diversion all along. Since 1957 OCID has collected files on everyone, from movie stars to politicians, and even planted a mole in the mayor's office. Rothmiller was an OCID detective from 1978 to 1982, and enjoyed access to many of these files. In this book he reports numerous instances of unwarranted surveillance, ugly racism, and routine perjury by the LAPD. It's not a pretty picture, but it's much more accurate than those cop shows on TV.
Tackwood, Louis E. and the Citizens Research and Investigation Committee. The Glass House Tapes. New York: Avon Books, 1973. 284 pages.
In 1971, some New Left activists in Los Angeles were approached by Louis Tackwood, who wanted to confess about the work he had been doing for the Criminal Conspiracy Section of the LAPD. "Those are the mad dogs who set up Angela, the Panthers -- all the militants. They've got a room on the eighth floor of the Glass House with files and pictures of all radicals -- brothers, brown militants and white boys, too. It's a top secret place where they keep information on everyone. You even need a special pass to get in. They got files on people all over the country. CCS is a super-police agency."This semi-thriller chronicles the efforts by the ad-hoc citizens committee to debrief Tackwood into a tape recorder over the next two years, confirm his story, and publicize it. They did an excellent job; this remains a classic glimpse into the pre-Watergate police-state atmosphere that was all too real for the New Left the morning after the sixties. From Red Squads to state agencies, and from the FBI's COINTELPRO to domestic surveillance by the CIA and military, it was as close to fascism as we've come since the McCarthy days. In 1978 I was working with another Citizens Commission on Police Repression on the issue of LAPD's intelligence division. I consider this book to be credible, even if Tackwood's prose is slightly overstated. -- D.Brandt
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
AARONS LEROY ACCARDO ANTHONY ACUNA PETE ADDAMS GENO AGOSTO JOSEPH VINCENT AHERN JAMES F AHERN STEPHEN ALLIANCE END REPRESSION ALVAREZ OSWALD AMERICAN INSTITUTES RESEARCH APPLEGATE REX (COL) BARKER BERNARD L BARTLEY V L BELL CHERYL BELL DAVID ELLIOTT BENEDICT DONALD BIGGIN WILLIAM BINGHAM STEPHEN MITCHELL BLACK LEGION BLAUVELT MILDRED BOCK IRWIN BOHMER PETER G BOUZA ANTHONY BOWRON FLETCHER BRADLEY TOM BRAHAM TOM BROWN LARRY (LAPD) BUNDY EDGAR C BUNTING JOHN R CAMARILLO EDWARD CAREY BERNARD M CARR JAMES (PANTHERS) CARRINGTON WAYNE CENTER RESEARCH SOCIAL SYSTEMS (CRESS) CHAMBLISS ROBERT E CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT CHURCH LEAGUE AMERICA CHURCH ROLLEN S CLARKE JOHN J COATES JOSEPH F COHEN JERRY (L.A.TIMES) CONLISK JAMES B CONNER WILLIAM C CONNOR BULL (EUGENE) COOK TOM (BIRMINGHAM POLICE) COOPER JERRY (ROOSTER) COXE SPENCER CUNNINGHAM WILLY (PIMP) CUSHING DAVID DAILEY PATRICK MAURICE DANCOR LTD DAVIS EDWARD M DAVIS JAMES EDGAR DAWSON EDWARD WOODROW DE LAURENTIIS DINO DE PETRO PHILIP DEFENSE RESEARCH CORPORATION DENNY REGINALD O DESMOND JEFFREY PAUL DI LIETO BIAGIO (BENNY) DIAL JON MICHAEL DILWORTH RICHARDSON K DIXON MARLENE DRAKE JENNIFER DUGGAN ROBERT EUGENE DURAZO MORENO ARTURO DURHAM DOUGLAS DYMALLY MERVYN M (D-CA) ENGLE BYRON FAIRLY KENNETH FARWELL R G FEDERAL LABORATORIES FENCL GEORGE FERRIOLA HERMAN FIELDS EDWARD R FINNEGAN JOHN (NYPD) FITZGIBBONS JAMES FLAMSON RICHARD FLEMING KARL FLETCHER BRENT FOX HARRY G FRANKIN MORTON (CHICAGO POLICE) FRAPOLLY WILLIAM FRATIANNO JIMMY FREED BARBOURA MORRIS FREED DONALD FRONTIERE DOMINIC FRONTIERE GEORGIA GALANTE ANGELO GALLINGHOUSE GERALD J GARRISON JIM (NEW ORLEANS) GATES DARYL F GAUDIOSI ALBERT GERVAIS PERSHING GODFREY HOWARD BERRY GOODE W WILSON GORRAN JODY ALLEN GREEN WILLIAM J JR GRIMM CHARLES GRISTMACHER ALVIN GRUBISIC JOSEPH P GUTMAN RICHARD HAMILTON JAMES E (LAPD) HAMILTON KEN HAMRICK J R HANRAHAN EDWARD V HARDY ROBERT HARRINGTON JOHN J HARRIS LOUIS (FBI) HARTNETT VINCENT W HEIMOSKI FRANK J HERRMANN WILLIAM W HILL CAROL HOFFA JIMMY (JAMES RIDDLE) HOOVER GEORGE MITCHELL HOOVER J EDGAR HORVATH STEPHANIE HOULDING ANDREW HOUSE M H HUBBARD TIMOTHY HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH HUNT E HOWARD HYLAND KENNETH HYNES WILLIAM FRANCIS INGRAHAM JACK INSTITUTE DEFENSE ANALYSES INTERNATIONAL POLICE ACADEMY JARRETT JAMES (LAPD SPY) JONES MARCUS A KARENGA RON KATZ MARILYN KEBE MAHONEY KEEL ROBERT KING RODNEY G KNAPP WILLIAM KOZIOL RONALD KU KLUX KLAN KYNETTE EARL E LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRATION LEARY HOWARD LEE RICHARD C LEGION JUSTICE LINDSAY JOHN VLIET LIUZZO VIOLET LOGUE FRANK LONGO DOMINIC LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT LOS ANGELES TIMES LULKIN SHELI LYONS RICHARD (NYPD AGENT) LYONS THOMAS J MABLEY JACK MADRAZO FRANK G MAHONEY DANIEL P (SGT) MARKIN RICHARD MARKLE ARNOLD MARTINEZ EUGENIO (ROLANDO) MARTINEZ EUSTACIO FRANK MAYBERRY MAX MCCARTHY MICHAEL (LOS ANGELES) MCCORD JAMES W JR MCLUCAS LONNIE MCMANUS FRANK MERRITT EARL ROBERT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MILAZZO CONNIE MARIE MILLS MAKE MITCHELL JOHN (LAPD) MITRIONE DAN A SR MOONEY TOM MORSE M MITCHELL MURPHY FRANK L NATIONAL CAUCUS LABOR COMMITTEES NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE NOREN ADELE OBRIEN JOHN (ARMY INTELLIGENCE) ODOM GEORGIA OFFICE PUBLIC SAFETY OKLEPEK DWAYNE OLSEN WILLIAM L ONEILL JOSEPH (PHILADELPHIA POLICE) OSBORN HOWARD J OXLEY ROBERT PALMER A.MITCHELL PARKER WILLIAM H PASTORE NICHOLAS PAUL JAY S PERCY CHARLES H (R-IL) PERRICONE SAM SR PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT PICKERT HEINRICH PIERSON ROBERT PITTS THOMAS L POMERLEAU DONALD D POND PATRICK POPE RAY POULSON NORRIS POWER JOSEPH A RACKLEY ALEX RAND CORPORATION RANDY MICHAEL REHNQUIST WILLIAM H REINER IRA RESEARCH ANALYSIS CORPORATION RESEARCH WEST INC RICE KENNETH M RIDDLE DONALD H RIDENOUR RON RIPSTON RAMONA RIZZO FRANK L ROBERTS GENE (MALCOLM X BODYGUARD) ROCHFORD JAMES ROTHMILLER MICHAEL ROWE GARY THOMAS RUFF CLIFFORD E RUNDLE FRANK SANNES DAVID SARCINELLI SAM SATZ WAYNE SCHEUER JAMES (D-NY) SCHWITZGEBEL ROBERT SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS CORPORATION SCRAPPER CHRISTOPHER SEARS BARNABAS F SECRET ARMY ORGANIZATION (SAN DIEGO) SGOBBA MICHAEL SHAW FRANK (MAYOR) SHEINBAUM STANLEY K SHELTON ROBERT M SHENKER MORRIS SHERRITT ROBERT SHORE GERALD SHUTTLESWORTH FRED SKRAH FRANK SMITH MELVIN (COTTON) SOLOMON EDDIE SORACE JOHN SORENSON JOHN L SOSTRE MARTIN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY SPILOTRO ANTHONY SPROULL ROBERT LAMB STEWARD HAROLD (U.S.ATTORNEY) STONER JESSE B SULLIVAN FRANK SULLIVAN FRED R SULMAN RICHARD K SUTHERLAND SHIRLEY DOUGLAS SUTTON S THOMAS TACKWOOD LOUIS ELBERT TARABOCCHIA ALPHONSO TATE JAMES (PHILADELPHIA MAYOR) TERRY ROBERT M THOMAS WILBERT THOMS ROBERT TONGYAI THOMAS TURCO ARTHUR VALENTINO LINDA VALKENBURG JOHN VALLEJO ALFRED VAN DE KAMP JOHN K VANCE CYRUS ROBERTS VERNON ROBERT WALKER DAN WALTERS SAMUEL (BALTIMORE) WALTON FRANK E (COL) WATKINS EDDIE WEINGLASS LEONARD WEST TOM (CHICAGO POLICE) WESTERN GOALS FOUNDATION WHALEN GROVER A WHITE RALPH WIEDRICH ROBERT WILKINSON FRANK WILLIAMS HOSEA WILLIAMS JOHN (CONNECTICUT LAWYER) WILLIAMS JOHN BELL (D-MI) WILSON JERRY V WOOD RAYMOND A WORMELI PAUL K YARMOLINSKY ADAM YAROSLAVSKY ZEV YORTY SAM W YOUNG COLEMAN ZARNOW JAMES J
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