Parker, W.H. The Police Role in Community Relations. Los Angeles: LAPD, 1955. Text of a speech delivered to the National Conference of Christians and Jews, May 19, 1955. Printed in the form of an extended Daily Training Bulletin (Volume IV, Bulletin 41) for distribution to all members of the Department. LAPD Chief William H. Parker is credited with reducing corruption and professionalizing his department, but his tenure was also marked by racial tension and concerns about police brutality toward African Americans and Latinos. Here, ten years before the Watts Riots, Parker asserts that Los Angeles has less racial strife than other cities, and the police have fewer complaints about prejudicial treatment of non-whites, because the police are highly trained, disciplined, and make an effort to communicate with community leaders. He acknowledges that the police presence is heavier in certain minority neighborhoods, but insists that the police must go where the crime is, regardless of the socio-economic conditions that may have led to the crime problem, and regardless of whether the community takes offense at the increased police activity. "The fact that minorities have received intolerant and discriminatory treatment," he concludes, "does not automatically lend justice to all of their demands. They are as prone to error as majority groups, and the wiser and calmer citizens within those groups recognize it. Thoughtful citizens expect the police to stand their ground when they are right."