Funeral today for last of the LAPD's 'Hat Squad'
LAPD Robbery Division:Above, left to right: Clarence Stromwall, Edward Benson, Harold Crowder and Max Herman
Harold Crowder, who died March 16 at age 83, was one of four members of the LAPD's robbery division known for their toughness and fancy suits and hats.According to the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the men were "known nationally to law enforcement and criminals alike during the 1950s and early 1960s" and were used as models for characters in movies, TV shows and comic books.
Crowder went on to become a prosecutor and judge.
Here's a story on the Hat Squad that ran in the L.A. Times in 1987. (Thanks to the LAPPL release for all this info and photos)
LAPPL's obit
The movie Mulholland Falls portrayed the Hat Squad.
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Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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They were the last of there kind HARD boil tough guys , they do not make them like that any more,
It should be "their" kind, not "there" kind. Why is the world becoming so illiterate?
Well it sure is nice to know Mr. Bill is hard on the job checking everyones spelling! Way to go Mr. Bill! Watch out of that truck. Oh No Mr Bill got mashed! No More Mr Bill.Thank God for trucks! As for the Hat Squad. Why do people like the idea of men thinking they are above the law? That is what the were and then one of them became a judge!? Great I feel better don,t you!?
Good job on setting Bill straight ERIC e !! Have you re-read your entry?
It's not about these guys being above the law. Bad thing is law being above justice. Seeing to what degree crime rate has escalated after guys like these had been put out of duty only an utterly foolish totally blind man in an isolated palace in Beverly Hills can say law brings justice and there's no need for Hat Squads. You could go down the park with your girl without a whole arsenal of guns and overwhelming dread in those days. The tendency is clear, the so-called law is all messed up. Things have gotten worse, right? That means things just ain't right nowadays. To hell with the law, bring on justice! Tough cops instead of gangs, murderers, drug dealers, rapists, pedophiles and all that mess. I'd feel safer with guys like these down the corner instead of gang members.
The movie Mulholland Falls commemorates the Hat Squad unforgettably. The squad as portrayed went further than due process, and it worked. Holland Herne expresses a common fear of crims taking over. (It would be a lot harder for crims if America had realistic gun laws. Per capita, there are up to 88 times as many gun deaths in the US as in, e.g., Australia, which has banned automatic weapons and makes it difficult to gain a licence for any handgun.) The trouble with a had squad is that it takes only one major mistake and it's out of business, along with the police commissioner. That's a high price.