L.A. Secret Police: Inside the LAPD Elite Spy Network

by Mike Rothmiller, Ivan G. Goldman

One night in Orange County, a helmeted figure on a motorcycle pulled alongside an unmarked LAPD car and emptied a machine pistol at the cop inside. Elite OCID Detective Mike Rothmiller lived to tell the story. Now, with veteran journalist Ivan Goldman, he rips the lid off Chief of Police Daryl Gates' LAPD - and reveals, for the first time, the dirty secrets of the elite unit whose crushing power and vast influence kept many of America's most citizens in its iron grip.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Police, History

246 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish there was an option for 0 stars or negative. This book was absolutely terrible. If you hate cops and think they are all completely corrupt and evil than you might like this book. Was the LAPD heirarchy a total mess during that time? yes. were there racist and corrupt cops? yes. but this book tries to blame everything on every cop in the lapd. from the chief all the way down to fresh recruits out of the academy are all corrupt, abusive, underhanded, racist biggots. This is simply not true. It sucks that someone tried to kill him. But the insinuations he leaves and blame he places on everyone in the department is ridiculous. There were good cops. There are good cops. There is such a thing as crime that is committed by the public. However in his eyes the only crime that exists is within the department. Yes the reaction to the riots was a poor one. But these cops did not start the riots. They didn't kill people, destroy buildings and lives. Blaming the entire thing on the department is a total over exaggeration. I hated this book because I was a cop. I never beat anyone, stole anything, never hid crimes or committed my own and I never saw it. I worked with officers who were officers at the time he speaks about and they were not and still are not corrupt. Were there some bad? yes. But not all. This gives the worst view of police officers ever.

[Licha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of this book left a bad taste in my mouth. The second half bored me and had me wondering what excatly was this book getting at?

The book sets out to portray LAPD as a corrupt entity, but some of the stuff in here sounds so farfetched, I'd really hate to think behavior like this is accepted. I'd hate to think that not one person would speak up against some of the racist behavior that was going on. Granted that this book goes back some years, starting with the 60's up until the early 90's, but I still find it appalling that in a sea of corruption, there wasn't the one lone ranger that would say, "Hey, this is wrong and unacceptable." The book goes into describing how false arrests were being made left and right, how evidence was planted at times in order to get the arrest, how officers would play "practical jokes" on innocent citizens. Some of it was so malicious for the sake of livening up a boring night or just because they could get away with it, that my mind went into overload, making me really wonder if some of the incidents mentioned were not embellished for shock value.

The second half went into snoozefest for me. Rothmiller describes the special unit he was in as a unit created for the sole purpose of keeping tabs on anyone that was anyone, but then doing nothing with the information they would get. I found it hard to sympathize with Rothmiller. He came across as someone who was one of the few with some morals, but yet did nothing to stop some of the behavior he was witness to. It ended with a lot of blah, blah, blah for me.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about the OCID in The Last Mafioso: The Treacherous World of Jimmy Frantianno and it prompted me to read this book to learn more. It is really a bit after the Frantianno years, however. In this book, former OCID detective Mike Rothmiller discusses how, during the 1970s and '80s, argely by design, OCID activities rarely came to public attention. LAPD officials long insisted that the unit remain spying on celebrities and politicians building up index card files without executing attention-getting arrests. The story is not really told in a coherent fashion, just a collage of corruption and politically motivated surveillance, often with name-dropping Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Bookending this unit history is how running into CIA-backed Contra funding flights nearly got Rothmiller killed, which is about the most interesting part of this book.

[Bob Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing glimpse of an apparent misuse of power by Darrell Gates. After I'd read it, I wasn't surprised when Bernard Parks succeeeded Willy Williams as chief, following a "scandal" involving, among other things, Williams getting his hotel rooms comped in Las Vegas. Parks apparently ran that unit, had all the goods on everybody, and didn't seem to have many scruples about using what he could dig up to his own advantage. Trivia fact: my boss when I worked for the LA County Sheriff's Department, a lieutenant, had told me just in normal conversation before the so-called scandal that *every* cop of the rank of lieutenant or above gets his rooms comped in Vegas. That makes me kind of glad that Parks is no longer with the LAPD.

[Jim Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for those of you who were around LA in the '80s and remember all the riots, mayhem, and cop issues going on there. It's an eye-opener written by a guy who was on the inside. When it first came out twenty years ago, it won accolades. It's still an eye-opener, as in, IT CAN'T HAPPEN HEEERE!

Well, think again. "What's that sound? Better take a look at what's going down?" It just ain't the way they tole you in school. Who was it said something about an "informed public"? Or whatever.

The book is on Kindle and it might as well be free!

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is half muckraking journalism and half trashy dime-store novel. While it relies exclusively on one source--the disgruntled ex-cop Mike Rothmiller who is targeted by his own division for failing to be corrupt enough--it provides a great deal of insight into the workings of the secret police division, as well as to the LAPD in general. Although now dated must-read for workers in the police accountability/police abolition movements, especially those interested in the Christopher Dorner case.

[Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This really puts James Ellroy in context,. I had a general overview of police corruption in LA, but this is nearly overwhelming. And, I think it makes sense to anyone who has ever worked in a pougueish bureaucracy or in political moements. I see some readers aren't so sure all this is true. If you doubt, look-up the Ramparts scandal which was exposed later and see just how bad things really are.

[Patrick Mead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good book in my opinion - full of sour grapes and you can tell the author is an embittered ex-employee. Tiresome and I ended up skimming through the last third or so.

[Matthew Valentinas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read doing research on the subject matter for another project. It was revealing for sure, and being nearly 30 years old I am sure was even considered crazy in its day. But in this time of whistlblowers I was expecting even more, but I realize change often is a very slow process. But a great read on how the LAPD was/is a paramilitary political operation more than a comnunity police force.

[Lyn Jensen]

Expose of the Los Angeles Police Dept. and some of the dirty tricks they pulled in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. The jacket blurb says, "They were ruthless and corrupt, ruined lives and reputations, and inflicted mindless brutality. The SS? The KGB? Guess again." That's a fairly clear indication that it's not a flattering portrait of the LAPD.

[Sandra Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe him.

This man, was an LAPD detective, and this book is a bombshell! Just like any other workplace, intimidation, spying and bullies. This was an interesting read.

[Kim Garza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring couldn't make it past 40%

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like a sit down with a retired cop having some coffee & chisme. If what was written is true, it was scary to be a Los Angeles resident in the 80’s & 90’s.

[Leeayn Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

DAMN!!!

[Luke Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and informative look into law enforcement in a major city. Many of the reviews of this book are negative because some refuse to believe or acknowledge what was printed in this book. I wonder why anyone who does not already have a skeptical view of law enforcement would even read this book. The corruption racism and abuse is described as systemic and not the work of a few bad apples. Witnessing the behavior of the NYPD toward its people and even its mayors (DeBlasio and Dinkins) I totally believe this account.

[A.r. Donenfeld-vernoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting information on the intelligence division of the L.A. Police from one who was on the inside. If you would like to know exactly what the police really know about in the celebrity filled city of L.A. than this is the book for you. The type of information gathering was not what I had expected.

[Michael Pelligrini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

It took balls for this former officer to put this story on paper. I give him credit for doing so. If we had more cops like this guy this whole country would be better. Well written and interesting. Makes you t think what is going on in other
Major cities.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A behind the scenes look at the LAPD's infamous S.I.S. Sercret police unit.

[Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insight into the workings of the LAPD.

[Pablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Extremely believable history of the excesses that seem to be an inherent part of the L.A.P.D.. Brutality, racism, cronyism and criminal conspiracy. Quite a legacy!!!

[Heather Horn]

Fascinating.