Bernard C. Parks (born December 7, 1943) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th district in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...

from 2003 to 2015. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...

, Parks served as

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...

of the Los Angeles Police Department from August 1997 to May 2002.

Early life and education

Parks is a graduate of Daniel Murphy High School and attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

and received a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University. He earned a Master's Degree in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Career

During his tenure, the LAPD was rocked by a corruption and police brutality scandal involving the elite C.R.A.S.H. anti-gang unit of the

Rampart Division The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) serves communities to the west of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) including Silver Lake, Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its ...

in the overwhelmingly Latino

Pico-Union Pico-Union is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. The name "Pico-Union" refers to the neighborhood that surrounds the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Union Avenue. Located immediately west of Downtown Los Angeles, it is home to ...

and Westlake districts. The Police Commission, under Commission President Rick J. Caruso did not recommend Parks for reappointment as police chief. Parks was succeeded as chief by

William Bratton William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American law enforcement officer and businessman who served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016). He previously served as the Commissioner of t ...

. In 2003, Parks won the seat on the Los Angeles City Council for Council District 8 representing

. He also unsuccessfully ran for the post of mayor in the 2005 elections, coming fourth in the primary. In 2008, Parks unsuccessfully sought to succeed

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Yvonne Pearl Burke (née Watson, later Brathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer from California. She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from ...

on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, losing to

Mark Ridley-Thomas Mark Ridley-Thomas is an American politician. He previously served three terms on the Los Angeles City Council from the 8th district from 1991 to 2002, and again for the 10th district from 2020 until his expulsion from the council in 2022. Ridle ...

in a runoff election. Term limits forced Parks out of the city council office in 2015. Marqueece Harris-Dawson won the District 8 election for the vacant seat, and replaced Parks on 1 July 2015. LA Times: "Marqueece Harris-Dawson takes office as councilman of L.A.'s 8th District"
1 July 2015.

References

External links

* ttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parks4-2008may04,0,4617315.story "Bernard Parks' record as LAPD chief and city councilman is a mixed blessing in his race for L.A. County supervisor"--LA Times
Gillian Wolf, "Bernard C. Parks," ''Gale Contemporary Black Biography''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, Bernard, C. 1943 births Living people African-American police officers American police officers African-American people in California politics California Democrats Los Angeles City College alumni Los Angeles City Council members Chiefs of the Los Angeles Police Department People from Beaumont, Texas Pepperdine University alumni USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Candidates in the 2005 United States elections