Detective III Arleigh Eugene McCree (December 24, 1939 – February 8, 1986) was the Commander of the
Firearms and Explosives Unit of the
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
and counter-terrorism specialist, widely recognized as one of the top explosive experts in the world.
LAPD career
McCree investigated the
Symbionese Liberation Army
The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...
bomb making operations in 1976 and was part of the bomb squad that investigated the
Marine barracks bombing in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
in 1983. A year later, McCree headed the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
bomb squad. McCree had written a text on explosive devices. In 1982 he testified before the
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism. He said government manuals on how to make bombs were too easy for terrorists to get.
Personal
McCree was also a contributor to ''Military Police'' magazine.
Death
McCree was killed along with officer Ronald Ball in a 1986
bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milita ...
operation in
North Hollywood, California
North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
. Both officers were attempting to defuse two
pipe bomb
A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device which uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively huge explos ...
s in a murder suspect's garage when they both detonated. McCree died instantly, and Ball would die about an hour later.
He is honored among the fallen officers in the line of duty at the
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is in Washington, D.C., at Judiciary Square, adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Museum. It honors 23,229 U.S. law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty throughout American hist ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
External links
"Police Aide Tells of Libyan Bid"''The New York Times'', 29 August 1981.
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCree, Arleigh
1939 births
1986 deaths
Los Angeles Police Department officers
American police officers killed in the line of duty
Bomb disposal personnel
Deaths by improvised explosive device in the United States
American terrorism victims
Terrorism deaths in California