May 04, 2025

221 LAPD Lieutenant Jeff Wenninger (Ret.) Rodney King Riots, Rebuilding The Gang Unit After The Rampart Scandal, & Reenvisioning Police Work (Part One)

1 hour 2 minutes

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Hey everyone, thanks for joining us, as we’re going west coast today! Welcome to part one of my two-part conversation with Author and Retired Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Jeff Wenninger!

Jeff is a retired LAPD lieutenant with more than 33 years in law enforcement. He started with the L.A. County Sheriff in 1991 and worked the Rodney King riots on the street and jail, where he and his coworkers were not allowed to go home for two weeks straight.

He later lateralled to LAPD in 1993 and went on to work with some of the most highly-trained units, including the Metropolitan Division which encompasses SWAT, K9, high risk warrants, and more. As a sergeant, he was handpicked as the officer in charge of the Rampart Gang Enforcement detail following the Rampart Scandal in the late 90s. As sergeant and later as a lieutenant, Jeff was the officer in charge of the Use of Force Investigation Division and oversaw investigations of lethal force and other significant applications of force. Jeff's work earned him prestigious awards including the LAPD Medal of Valor, Police Star, and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Jeff is the founder and CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants, LLC. He is releasing a book called “On Thin Ice” that will be published on May 6.

Please enjoy my candid interview, which we talk about what needs to be fixed and what is working with law enforcement today.

In today’s episode we discuss:

· Being adopted as a child, how did this affect your later life, especially in your career as a police officer? Or did it?

· His father being a professor at Kent State University and being there when national guardsmen opened fire on students.

· Jeff being the recipient of a hockey scholarship to go to college. How his career in hockey molded him and prepared him later in life?

· As a young man, there was an incident where he had a negative interaction with the police where he was unlawfully arrested. How did this affect him later as a police officer?

· Why leave the L.A. Sheriff’s to join the LAPD?

· O.J., guilty or not guilty?

· How the O.J. Simpson trial changed the LAPD and the city.

· Working the streets and jail during the Rodney King riots. Over sixty people dead and thousands injured.

All of this and more on today’s episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.

Go check out Jeff's website to learn more about him and his newest book, On Thin Ice.

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