Why East Coast and West Coast Policing Developed Differently

On this episode of Our American Stories, why do police departments in different parts of the country operate so differently? Former LAPD Sergeant Bob Alaniz argues that the answer goes back to two competing traditions: reactive policing, rooted in Sir Robert Peel’s 19th-century model, and the more proactive style that came to define law enforcement in Los Angeles and much of the American West.

Alaniz explains the difference through an encounter from his own LAPD career involving Richard Ramirez, later known as the “Night Stalker.” For Alaniz, the episode raises a larger question at the heart of policing: should officers primarily respond after a crime occurs, or intervene when experience tells them something may be wrong?

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