Tom Swicegood

Sergeant O'leary and the L.a.p.d Tom Swicegood

Dangers and conflict are faced by police officers everywhere. In a huge metropolis those threats are multiplied. Law enforcement must depend upon dedicated men and women bravely working together to keep each other safe. Or so one might expect. Sergeant O'Leary and the L. A. P. D. tells a different story. This is the truth authorities in the City of Angels did not want printed. It is the story of a Los Angeles police officer who battled internal harassment and threats to his life yet refused to be run out of the L. A. P. D. Why was Sergeant O'Leary faced with such problems? Because other police officers thought he was gay. "I better never have to work with a queer. If I do, I'll wait until some night when there's a burglary call and we're in a dark building" states a Los Angeles patrolman. "My .45 will accidentally take care of him. One shot to the head. No more fag. No more problem. This will be a better world" Such threats are not idle. Homophobic officers provide drama and suspense. Uncontrolled cops in Rampart Division beat Hispanics and blacks. There are gunfights in 77th and a storm at Venice Beach. Yet, parts of O'Leary's story are genuinely funny. Here are tales of a deer shot and killed in the bloody back seat of a speeding patrol vehicle, of a too generously endowed academy recruit, of cops playing chicken with squad cars in Beverly Hills after midnight, and married men in blue looking for easy dates. It's all entertaining.