Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates Dead

Former Los Angeles police Chief Daryl Gates, who was credited with modernizing the department but later forced out in the wake of the 1992 riots, died today from complications of bladder cancer at age 83.

According to broadcast reports, Gates died at his home in Dana Point.

The Los Angeles native joined the police department in 1948 and eventually landed a plum job as driver for then-Chief William Parker — a relationship that helped him move up through the ranks and eventually land the department’s top job in 1978.

He was later instrumental in developing the first SWAT team in the nation and developing the anti-drug effort DARE.

Though popular among officers, his brash style often rankled city leaders, and the rioting that erupting in 1992 when white police officers were acquitted of charges related to the beating of Rodney King, Gates became cast as out-of-touch with the realities of the cities urban core.

Gates, though he was criticized for his response to the rioting, personally jerked out of bed and arrested the man who was eventually convicted of smashing trucker Reginald Denny in the head with a cinder block at the genesis of the rioting.

Gates retired under pressure in late 1992.