Family, Friends and Peers Attend Promotion

Captain Kirk at the helm – yes really. Captain Kirk Palmer is the newest GPD officer to attain the position of Captain with the Glendale Police Department in a ceremony attended by family and friends in August.

Chief Randy Adams wasted no time in poking fun at Captain Kirk Palmer in what could prove to be a career-long reference to the TV series STAR TREK.

Palmer’s promotion adds to his long career in law enforcement. He will take over the department’s administrative services, in which he has served as a lieutenant since 2004. He started on his path to Glendale Police management in 1990, when he was promoted to sergeant.

During his address, Captain Palmer said, “that while public safety departments often receive the lion’s share of media attention for their efforts, he looks forward to supporting and promoting the work of his counterparts in the city’s various civic departments as Glendale prepares to handle new development and growth.”

Capt. Palmer was born in San Diego, CA. and raised in Whittier where he graduated from Sierra High School. Upon graduation, he attended the University of La Verne and received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Organizational Management. He went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University Northridge. He also graduated from the California P.O.S.T. Supervisory Leadership Institute and is scheduled to graduate from the P.O.S.T Command College this month.

Palmer joined Glendale’s Police Department as a Reserve Officer in 1981. In 1985, after graduating from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy, class #244, he was appointed as a full-time Police Officer with GPD. In 2004, he was promoted to Police Lieutenant.

By Lt. Don Meredith

Lt. Meredith is a 35-year veteran of the Glendale Police Department and has served in many of its divisions. Presently, he is Patrol Watch Commander for Group "C."

Chapter 1

World history documents gangs back to at least the 1500's. Gangs in the Unites States chart their history back to the 1700's with the existence of immigrant gangs in New York City. The early gangs are believed to have their origins in the impoverished area known as "Five Points." These early gangs were generally composed of immigrant children who had been abandoned or orphaned in this tough neighborhood. They banded together for a sense of belonging, security and commonality of culture.

Gangs that were predominant in the early days of this country were generally recent immigrants who lived in impoverished and crime ridden conditions. These recent immigrants faced discrimination because of their heritage.

As the United States came of age, so did gangs. They have grown into violent, criminal enterprises in both metropolitan and rural areas of the United States. In California a criminal street gang is defined as any ongoing organization, association or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more of the criminal acts enumerated in California Penal Code section 186.22 and have a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, and whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity.

California Gang Activity

In California, gang activity dates back to the early part of the 20th century. Between 1910 and 1920 over 21,000 Mexicans immigrated to Los Angeles to escape the ravages of the Mexican Revolution. Many of them settled in what is now known as Atwater and Tropico (southwest Glendale). They settled in the same area due to their common bonds of culture, religion, family and friends. By the early 1940's, the Mexican immigrants population in Los Angeles swelled to 250,000. This was the largest group of immigrants in Los Angeles. They often experienced discrimination and disparity in treatment.

About 1940, articles on Mexican Street Gangs started t appear in local papers. In August 1942, the "Evening Herald Express" front page brought these gangs to the front page, covering the "Sleepy Lagoon Murder." Sleepy Lagoon was located in the Montebello area and a death of a local ranch hand occurred during a fight between the Los Angle based "38th Street Gang" and the "Downey Gang."

Zoot Suit Riots

Subsequent to the Sleepy Lagoon Murder a young man immigrated to Los Angeles from Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico via El Paso, Texas. This young man named Mickey Garcia had mimicked the style of dress worn by jazz musicians and drug traffickers of the time. This style of dress was a fancy oversize suit, short fat tie, chain, Fedora style hat and dress shoes. Mickey Garcia's style of dress became known as the "Zoot Suit" and was quickly adopted by the Mexican youth as well as some youth within the African-American and Filipino communities.

As a result of a fight in which some U.S. Navy sailors were beat up by some Mexican youths, a series of street brawls occurred. These fights were between members if the U.S. Military and anyone they could find of Hispanic decent. This became known as the "Zoot Suit Riots" and was a catalyst in street youth banding together for protection.

Gangs In Glendale

Glendale gangs date back to 1937 and the "Latin Souls," a group active in southwest Glendale and Atwater Village.

In the 1940's the gang became known as "Toonerville" gang. Toonerville was sang for Atwater Village, a stop on the Pacific Electric street car line. The street cars were shabby just like those depicted in the 1940's Looney-Toons cartoon entitled "Toonerville."

Two rival gangs -- the "Avenues" and "Frogtown" -- formed in northeast Los Angeles around the same time. The Avenues took their name from the fact that the streets in the area are called "Avenue 53," "Avenue 54." The Frogtown gang derived their name from an event where large frogs appeared in neighborhoods along the Los Angeles River.