Mayor: Honor fallen officer
Article Launched: 02/22/2008 11:52:25 PM PST
When the Los Angeles Police Department opens its new SWAT headquarters later this year, it should be named for slain Officer Randal Simmons, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday.
Simmons, a Rancho Palos Verdes resident and father of two, became the first SWAT officer to die in the line of duty during a standoff earlier this month in Winnetka.
In a letter to the Police Commission, Villaraigosa said, “It would be a fitting tribute to the life of Officer Simmons to rename the new home of the Metropolitan Division and SWAT team after this remarkable SWAT team officer and dedicated member of the community.”
The Metropolitan Division and SWAT are expected to move into the old Rampart Division station, located at 2710 W. Temple St., within the next six months.
Simmons, 51, was shot and killed Feb. 7 in a gunbattle with a man who killed his father and two brothers inside the family’s home. Last Friday, more than 10,000 people attended his funeral, the most ever to attend services for a fallen LAPD officer.
There are currently no LAPD facilities named after individuals who were not chiefs of the department, according to Officer Jason Lee.
Simmons spent more than 20 years on the LAPD SWAT team and was active in the community.
He was lauded as minister of children’s outreach services at Glory Christian Fellowship Church in Carson, as a coach in the El Segundo Youth Football League and as mentor for at-risk young people in South Los Angeles .
Related Images: