Gene Fogerty – Thonie Hevron Author

Ramblings Reprise: Foot Beat Stories 3

The following are a reprise of Hal’s favorite posts–Foot Beat Stories. Today’s is 3 of 4 first posted in 2013. Next week will feature the wind up of his foot beat stories and the week after, readers will enjoy new material from Hal Collier. –Thonie

I’m re-posting this as it didn’t go out over social media on Sunday as it’s supposed to. –Thonie

By Hal Collier, Retired LAPD

The following stories are true to best of my fading memory. I only worked a foot beat for 3 1/2 years but boy, did I pack a lot of fun into those 42 months. I just spent a month learning how to walk in the daylight. Now, I’m off to mid PM’s which is a little different. I’m going to work with “Dan”—another long time foot beat officer.

At the time, Hollywood Division had two officers name Dan. One was referred to as the “crazy” Dan. Lucky for me I worked with the other one, but there was some debate on that. Ok, I’m going to be working in the dark. I’ve got the walk down, I can do bar and porno theater checks, but I’m going to miss London Britches and the Artisan’s Patio.

Dan was a lot different than J.J. Brown. Dan was younger, had less patience and was quicker to anger. This should be fun and a challenge. Dan was working his way up to the Gene Fogerty style of a foot beat cop: my Boulevard, my rules and no questions.

Dan carried a straight baton just like the rest of us, but he attached a leather thong which allowed him to spin it as he walked along. It was right out of the 50’s.

My first night walking with Dan, he suggested we eat at Ernesto’s, an Italian restaurant next to the Egyptian Theater. You know, working nights might be nice. On Morning Watch we only had few places to eat, Copper Penny, Copper Skillet and Pinks if you ate before 1 A.M.

We sat in a booth at Ernesto’s and the waiter greeted Dan like a brother. He brought us each a cup of coffee, but no cream. I’ll suffer. I took a sip, it’s not coffee–it was red wine. I don’t want to spoil the mood but I don’t drink wine and switch for a cup of coffee.

A few weeks later we finish a meal at Ernesto’s, lasagna and garlic bread. I’m going to need an hour to walk off dinner. It’s Saturday night and Hollywood Boulevard is packed. Traffic is bumper to bumper in both directions. We see this jerk in a pick-up truck let the car ahead of him move up 30 feet. He then pops the clutch, spinning the tires then slams on the brakes.

Dan says, “I’ll show you how we handle these type of guys.” We walk between cars and up to the truck that’s stopped. We both approach the driver’s window. Dan reached in and removed a 40 ounce bottle of beer. Dan then grabbed the driver’s hands while I reached in to shut off the ignition. Traffic in front of us cleared and the driver popped the clutch. The truck lurched forward spilling Dan and me into the middle of Hollywood Boulevard.

The truck made a quick right turn on Mc Cadden and almost hit a guy on a motorcycle. The guy on the motorcycle is pissed and he says to Dan, “hop on” and well go get him. Dan declines—see, he’s not the crazy one. The guy in the truck sped up and slammed into a light pole. Guess he couldn’t drive without a 40 ounce of beer between his legs.

This is where it really got fun. The guy in the truck staggered out of his now wrecked truck and was planning his escape. This stranger on a motorcycle tells the truck driver hop on, the cops are coming. The truck driver jumps on the back of the motorcycle and the motorcycle guy turns around and dumps the felon at our feet. Bet you never saw that on Adam 12. No one would have believed it.

A week later Dan and I were standing in front of our Captain. Apparently our foot beat tactics and Boulevard Rules were not the same as department rules. We both got a notice to correct.

I learned many more lessons on walking a foot beat and now I’m ready to fly on my own, on Morning watch.

Dan and his partner Tim’s police careers were cut short a few months later when their police car was rear ended by a drunk driver. They both suffered back injuries and had to be pensioned off. We lost two good cops and a wealth Hollywood Boulevard foot beat experience.

Next chapter, it’s my foot beat and I’ll have to prove I’m worthy. Hal

Ramblings, Characters, part 4–Boulevard Rules

By Hal Collier, LAPD, Retired

Hal is a thirty-five year veteran of LAPD. We are pleased he is sharing his stories with us.

Another short story and then a story about a Hollywood Character. The “character” will be known to only some of the Hollywood cops of the 70’s, but it will give you an insight of the way foot beat cops functioned in the old days.

I worked AM’s for fourteen straight years and often worked out after work. After my work out, I would shower at the station, use the city’s water, and save myself some money. I would put on clean clothes, drive home, and go to bed.

One day, I finish my work out and take a shower. After toweling off, I try to put on my underwear. They won’t go up past my knees. These underwear belong to my son. I grabbed the wrong pair from the laundry basket. Bob, my son, was about six and we both wore white Penny’s underwear. Ok no problem, I’ll drive home commando (that means no underwear). I place Bob’s underwear in my jean pants pocket and drive out the station parking lot. I’m half way home when I see a police car behind me. It dawns on me, I have a small boy’s underwear in my pants pocket, and I’m not wearing any. Working Hollywood I know that spells pervert. I obey all the laws and make it home. I go through my underwear drawer and check all the tags.

It was easier when Bob wore colored Superman underwear.

Hollywood Character: Bill Conkey

Hollywood Blvd 1970's — Hollywood Blvd 1970’s

Bill (and I’m guessing on the spelling of his last name) was a Hollywood Boulevard fixture. I saw Bill walking, or better described as limping along Hollywood Blvd during the 70’s and into the 80’s. I knew that Bill was begging but I never got any complaints. Bill was a friend of the foot beat cops. Some nights I’d see Bill asleep on a bus bench and other times I saw him eating food from a trash can. I was told that Bill was a lawyer who lost his family in a house fire and went kind of crazy. I asked J.J. (a foot beat legend) about Bill and this is what he told me. I believe J.J.’s version, after all, he knew Bill better than I did.

Bill worked at a vegetable stand on Hollywood Boulevard in the 40-50’s. He also lived in the back room. Bill was drafted and served in the Korean War. There’s some question on whether Bill was a bit slow before or after his service in Korea. When the vegetable stand closed, (it’s probably a souvenir shop now) Bill became homeless and a panhandler on Hollywood Boulevard.

George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan in the 70's police series, "The Blue Knight" — George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan in the 70’s police series, “The Blue Knight”

During the good old days, foot beat officers ran the Boulevard. They knew all the store owners, the beggars and the trouble makers. The foot beat cops advised the trouble makers of the “Boulevard Rules.” They complied or left Hollywood. Bumper Morgan, a Joseph Wambaugh character, was based on old foot beat cops. These kind of foot beat cops have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

J.J. told me this story:

He was walking his foot beat and a police car stopped and this officer walked up to J.J. The officer said that when he was working undercover, J.J. advised him of the Boulevard rules in an aggressive manner in front of a bunch of dope dealers. The officer now thanked J.J. and said he never had any trouble buying drugs after that.

Contrary to what you saw in the movie, “Pretty Woman” prostitutes were not allowed to work on Hollywood Boulevard. They were sent to Sunset Boulevard—”Boulevard Rules.”

Bill was never a problem and the foot beat officers would buy him meals and clothes. When Bill’s health deteriorated, the foot beat officers would ask Bill, “Are you ready?” If Bill wasn’t ready to go to jail he would answer, “No.” If Bill said “Yes,” he was arrested for begging. Bill would spend the next week or so in jail. He would get cleaned up, fed well, and given clean clothes. Bill was sometimes taken to the Veterans Hospital and treated for his ailments.

I could always tell when Bill had been to the hospital. He had new shoes, walked upright, and had a fresh haircut. A month later Bill would be shuffling along the Boulevard begging for change. Bill, like Tilly, just disappeared.

I walked a Hollywood Boulevard foot beat for almost three years. I still think it was the best job I ever had. Today’s Hollywood foot beats ride bikes or drive around in cars. They don’t know the shop owners, or the characters who made walking the foot beat fun and rewarding. The “Boulevard Rules” have disappeared and it’s kind of sad. The Hollywood Foot beat legends are gone but not forgotten thanks to officers like Gene Fogerty, Jim Conrad, Frank Hintz, Dan Lewis, and J.J. Brown. There were lots of foot beat officers but these few set the standard in the old days.

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