Latino Gets No. 2 Post in LAPD’s Foothill Division
A Los Angeles Police Department veteran with 27 years of experience will take over command of patrol officers in the Foothill Division, which gained notoriety seven months ago with the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King by division officers.
Lt. Gabe Ornelas, soon to be promoted to captain, will assume Foothill’s second-highest post in two weeks, becoming the first Latino captain in the division. Ornelas, 53, currently heads the department’s bank robbery detail and has a background in community-based policing.
Ornelas replaces Capt. Paul Jefferson, who has been credited with soothing relations between the division and the community’s minority residents. Jefferson will take over the 77th Street Division, which has been beset by conflict between blacks and Korean merchants.
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