THE ASSOCIATION FOR PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.

This article focuses on the establishment of the Association for Professional Law Enforcement. The organization was created in the fall of 1952 by members of the Los Angeles Police Department in California. The fact that it started as a strictly grass roots movement leads one to believe that the idea developed in the minds of the police officers as a spontaneous, inwardly motivated action. No person or persons in high authority ordered its creation, no one even suggested it. The desire was there, and it became mandatory to give substance and form to the thought. During the months of 1951 and 1952 a group of police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, less than 30 in number, met from time to time in an informal manner. The topic of discussion centered mainly around the desire of this particular group to identify itself with an established organization purporting to work for the elevation of police service standards. Each member had a sincere desire to contribute personally in some way to the over-all problem of raising the standards of law enforcement. The group verbalized some of its thinking on paper and as a consequence, a charter setting up a formal organization was created. On November 13, 1952, 35 police officers, from the ranks of captain, lieutenant, sergeant and patrolman, met at luncheon at the Los Angeles Police Academy and affixed their signatures to a document establishing the Association for Professional Law Enforcement. Analysis of the objectives reveals that two principal areas of action are emphasized. First, the desire for greater understanding between the police and the public, in other words, better communications. Secondly, the need for the development of the accoutrements of professionalism such as pre-education and post-entry training, an organized body of knowledge and a cogent code of ethics, without which, no field of human endeavor can achieve a professional status.