Museum Highlights Los Angeles Police History, Hollywood Connections (2/3)

The exhibits also show the interplay of the LAPD and Hollywood. There are two wallet badges with the picture-identifications of two fictional detectives from the radio and television show Dragnet. The show's creator, Jack Webb, played the lead role of Sergeant Joe Friday.

Martin says a spin-off series called Adam-12 would bring the department into the homes of Americans.

"For us, what it meant was the LAPD came into the living room of folks had TV sets, the trials and tribulations of a day-to-day detective and all the trappings that went along with that were now in the living room, and that could definitely increase the understanding of what it meant to be a police officer here in Los Angeles during that time."

The department has been featured in many movies, including L.A. Confidential and the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon series. An LAPD officer, Joseph Wambaugh, became a best-selling writer of police and crime stories.

The museum also tells the story of a real-life incident in 1997, when two heavily armed bank robbers battled police for 44 minutes in the North Hollywood section of the city.