Wednesday, April 16, 2003 3:03 PM
A lone journalist from City News Service is the only member of the media who still reg- ularly staffs the Los Angeles Police Department’s Parker Center Press Room. But for one evening last month, journalists gath- ered at the aging police headquarters to recall the glory days of the fluorescent-lit quarters.
“A Salute to the Parker Center Press Room,” co-sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Press Club, featured a panel of reporters who recalled a time when they worked out of the fabled offices.
Among those was Chris Woodyard, busi- ness writer for USA Today, who worked in the
press room in the late 1970s, when he was a cub reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He recalled legendary figures who worked there, including the late L.A. Times police beat reporter Nieson Himmel and retired City News Service writer Norman “Jake” Jacoby, for whom the room is named.
Columnist Marc Haefele, who worked in the press room for CNS in the 1980s, recalled a vibrant, 24-hour-a-day operation of clattering teletypes and clacking typewriters.
Also on the panel was Richard Kalk, a retired LAPD detective and the founder of the L.A. Police Historical Society, who noted that the LAPD used to do lineups of suspects in
the Parker Center auditorium. Daily News City Hall reporter Harrison Sheppard moder- ated the event.
The nearly silent press room is still filled with yellowed newspaper clippings and beat up steel desks, looking much the same as when the police headquarters opened in 1955. The building, designed by Welton Becket & Associates — once one of the most modern police facilities in the nation — may be on its way out. Discussions are underway about erecting a new headquarters in its place.
Police Chief William Bratton, who was scheduled to appear, canceled shortly before the event, citing the war in Iraq.
