This week, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) participated in the California
Homicide Investigators Association (CHIA) conference in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
CHIA was formed in 1968 when homicide detectives from Los Angeles and
San Francisco met over dinner to discuss the Zodiac Killer
investigation. Today, CHIA is the largest organization of homicide and
death investigation professionals in the United States with over 1,400
members that include law enforcement representatives from all over the
United States and Canada.
Each year different law enforcement organizations take turns hosting
the conference. At this year’s CHIA conference, hosted by the LAPD, a
multimedia exhibit called, “Behind the Scenes: The LAPD Homicide
Experience,” was created and features homicide evidence from crimes and
deaths that have captured the public’s attention. The teaching exhibit
was opened on Wednesday to the public and thousands of guests have
stood in lines for up to two hours to glimpse Los Angeles’s history.
A number of the exhibits show evidence that was collected during
various well-known incidents and they were carefully designed so
visitors would gain a better appreciation for the tragedy of murder and
the difficult jobs law enforcement detectives have in solving often
very complicated cases. Murder is the absolute worst thing one human
being can do to another and the displays were designed to provide a
unique insight into the sacrifice of victims and their families as well
as the emotional toll murder takes on homicide detectives and the
District Attorneys who prosecute the cases. Homicide is by nature
horrific, but the entertainment media often portrays it as sterile and
benign. When people see the reality of murder, it becomes an
unthinkable act.
Based on the feedback we have received, it is now clear that a few of
the items on display have offended some crime victims’ families. We
have both been to hundreds of murder scenes in our law enforcement
career and we have consoled many family members. It was never our
intent to cause grief to victims of crime or their families. The CHIA
exhibit was designed to be educational and to show the public how
murder cases are very carefully investigated. We never intended to
compound the grief of murder victim’s families, but unfortunately, a
few items on display have been interpreted by some people as such, and
that was never our intention. Our organizations strive to bring justice
to homicide victims not to cause sorrow to their families.
Steve Cooley Charlie Beck
District Attorney Chief of Police