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Charles L. Beck Biography
Deputy Chief Charles L. Beck is 32 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department with an outstanding record of innovative leadership as a Lieutenant, Captain, Commander and Deputy Chief.
A second-generation LAPD officer, Beck has built his career as a coalition builder in some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods – playing a critical role in how the Department works with Los Angeles’ communities. As a Chief of Detectives, Beck is widely viewed as a progressive reformer, embracing a comprehensive approach to gang violence reduction.
Deputy Chief Beck was appointed to the Department in March 1977 after serving two years in the Los Angeles Police Reserve Corps. He was promoted to Sergeant in June 1984, where he took assignments in the South Bureau’s Narcotics Task Force and CRASH Unit. Before earning his Lieutenant promotion, Beck was assigned to the Training Review Committee where he was tasked with reviewing the department’s policies and training particularly as they related to the use of force.
In March 1993 Beck reached the rank of Lieutenant, where he took on the roles of Commanding Officer for the Southeast Area and the Commission Investigation Division. In 1998, he became the Officer in Charge of Community Policing and Planning Section where he played a critical role in providing training to Community-Police Advisory Boards.
Upon being promoted to captain, Beck was assigned as the Commanding Officer of Southeast Operations Support Division where he spent approximately two years implementing strategies of effective enforcement and community teambuilding through the use of a neighborhood police academy. In 2002, Beck was assigned as the Commanding Officer of the Central Area, helping to develop working relationships with effective homeless services providers and federal and state law enforcement agencies in an effort to reduce the crime targeting the homeless.
In May 2003, Beck was named the Commanding Officer in the Rampart Area where he was critical in establishing the MacArthur Park Project that partnered with local businesses to place camera technology in the area. The effort resulted in significant crime reductions and an improved quality of life in one of the most violent and busiest geographic areas of the City.
Beck was promoted to Deputy Chief in August 2007, he assumed command of Operations - South Bureau, an area that accounts for approximately 40 percent of all homicides in the City. In this role Beck created the Criminal Gang and Homicide Group (CGHG), which is tasked with suppressing gang violence in South Los Angeles. The CGHG was critical in the historical reductions of gang violence by improving the homicide clearance rates, increasing training, and improving coordination with state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Currently, Beck serves as the Chief of Detectives, under this capacity he was instrumental in developing the department’s strategy to reducing its backlog of rape kits.
Deputy Chief Beck is the current president of the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Police Relief Association and competes regularly in local motocross events. He is a current Police and Fire Motocross national champion and has won dozens of medals in state, national and international competitions.
Deputy Chief Charles Beck was born in Long Beach, California in 1953, and holds a Bachelors Degree from the California State University at Long Beach.
Nearly every member of Chief Beck’s immediate family serves or has served in law enforcement. Chief Beck’s father, George Beck, retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a Deputy Chief in 1980. Chief Beck’s daughter, Brandi Scimone, is currently assigned to the Hollywood Area as a patrol officer. His wife of 25 years, Cindy Beck, is a retired deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. If Chief Beck is confirmed by the City Council, he will preside over a Los Angeles Police Academy graduation ceremony in December of 2009, which will include his son, Martin.