Robert

That wasn't even really a joke.

There's a good chance the sponsors of this podcast are illiterate.

A shocking number of Americans functionally are.

It's a good time to be writing a book, Robert, let me tell you.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So in his first days as an LAPD rookie, Mark seems to have been very eager to please and impress.

He would often show up to work like a half hour to an hour early.

This commitment to going above and beyond the job description was recognized by his bosses.

And in 1977, he was assigned to a dangerous but prominent assignment, working with a sexy new unit in East L.A.

targeting Hispanic street gangs.

Per an article in the LA Times, quote, in 1977, with black gangs emerging as a formidable criminal element and Latino gangs continuing to pose problems, department administrators received a one-year federal grant for a special 44-man unit to concentrate on neighborhoods where gang crime was heaviest.

Based at the Hollenbeck Division in East Los Angeles, the unit was dubbed Total Resources Against Street Hoodlums, TRASH, but civic leaders thought the acronym disparaging.

Total resources against street hoodlums?

Hoodlums?

Come on, guys.

I love to use my 50s slang.

Yeah.

Now, it is the 70s, but yeah, it still seems outdated.

I gotta go get those roustabouts.