Bernard C. Parks (born December 7, 1943) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, who served as a member of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tem ...

, 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 *Demo ...

, Parks served as Chief 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 ...

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 Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

. He earned a Master's Degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Career

During his tenure, the LAPD was rocked by a corruption and police brutality scandal involving the elite

C.R.A.S.H. The Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) was a specialized unit of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) tasked with combating street gang, gang-related crime between 1979 and 2000. The unit was established in the South Los Ang ...

anti-gang unit of the Rampart Division 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 Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American businessman. A billionaire, he is the founder and former chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He is the chair of the board of trustees at the University ...

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 th ...

. In 2003, Parks won the seat on the

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 The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...

, losing to Mark Ridley-Thomas in a runoff election. Term limits forced Parks out of the city council office in 2015.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson Marqueece Harris-Dawson (born November 7, 1970) is an American politician, who currently represents the 8th district of the Los Angeles City Council since 2015. Early life and education Harris-Dawson was born and raised in South Central Los An ...

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