Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
These days the American public is all too familiar with the sight of cops busting criminals, thanks to the TV program Cops and the prevalance of cameras and cell phones.
But back in the 1980s, few people knew what it looked like to ride along with a cop. Bill Valentine did.
In 1985, William Carl Valentine was a young, aspiring photographer at Arizona State University and he spent his spring break riding around with the Pasadena Police force. His striking black and white photographs offered a rare insight into street patrol during a heady time.
The southern California city was a lot different back then.
"The northwest part of Pasadena had a lot of rock cocaine, there was PCP," said Valentine. "Whenever you have that much drug sales, there's a fair [amount] of violence, homicides and stuff like that. It was active."
Valentine, who's father was an officer and who himself went on to a career in law enforcement, said it was important to earn the trust of the Pasadena officers with whom he spent long hours.
"I grew up around the department, so it wasn't completely foreign to me," said Valentine. "I was used to being around it."
See more of Valentine's work at his website: http://www.williamkarlvalentine.com