Parker Center - LAPD Headquarters

Parker Center is the headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department, and is located in Downtown LA. It is named for former LAPD chief William H. Parker. Originally with the prosaic name, the Police Administration Building, ground for the center was broken on December 30, 1952 and construction completed in 1955. The architect was Welton Becket. The building combined police facilities that had been located throughout the Civic Center area. On July 16, 1966, Chief Parker had a fatal heart attack. Soon afterwards City Council made a motion to rename the Police Administration Building "Parker Center."

It is seen in most episodes of the 1967 version of the television drama Dragnet. The Closer also uses Parker Center as a location. It is also featured as one of the main locations in Police Quest IV, the fourth installment of the Police Quest series, a 1993 PC video game by Sierra Entertainment. The center was also one of the sites of the 1992 Los Angeles riots following the not-guilty verdict on the alleged LAPD abuse of Rodney King.

Presently, plans are being considered for Parker Center as it is considered outdated and in need of expensive seismic retrofits to continue using it. A number of sites in downtown Los Angeles were discussed as possible sites for the new headquarters. Ultimately the City Council selected the property directly south of City Hall, where the old Caltrans Los Angeles Headquarters had been located. Ground was broken for the new Police Administration Building in January 2007, with a projected occupation for 2010.

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