Museum Highlights Los Angeles Police History, Hollywood Connections (3/3)

As police radioed for reinforcements, the bank robbers fired some 1,200 rounds ammunition" class="hjdict" word="ammunition" target=_blank>ammunition in a ferocious" class="hjdict" word="ferocious" target=_blank>ferociousshootout caught by television news cameras.

Ten officers and six civilians were shot, but luckily, none died. One robber committed suicide and the other succumbed to his wounds as he lay in the street. Outside the museum, two bullet-riddled cars round out the story. One was driven by the robbers, and the other by a police sergeant who was wounded in the fierce exchange.

The LAPD story has more than its share of heroism" class="hjdict" word="heroism" target=_blank>heroism, but it also has its dark side, from corruption in the department's early days to the scandals and racial incidents of the 1990s. The police beating of a black motorist named Rodney King would spark citywide riots in 1992, after a jury acquitted four accused officers. The museum does not highlight these topics, but Martin says visitors sometimes raise the issues.

And the LAPD story, says retired officer Glynn Martin, is well worth the telling.