Today, we look into what exactly is the LAPD’s “Metro” division, as shown on the latest episode of The Rookie.
In Pop Culture Questions Answered, I answer whatever questions you folks might have about movies, TV, music or whatever (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brian@pop culture references.com).
THE ROOKIE SPOILERES FOR THE MOST RECENT EPISODE AHEAD!
One of the major characters on The Rookie, a long-running ABC drama created by Alexi Hawley about the oldest rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) (who is now a training officer himself in the current fifth season with his OWN rookie, Celina Juarez, played by Lisseth Chavez), is Eric Winter’s Sgt. Tim Bradford.
Bradford was one of the three original training officers on the series. His trainee, Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil), later graduated to becoming a full-time cop and recently, Chen and Bradford (“Chenford”) gave in to their sexual tension and began dating. The problem is that Tim was technically Lucy’s boss, so he decided to take a job as the Court Liaison, so he would be out of Lucy’s reporting structure at the LAPD. However, Tim was clearly dying of boredom at his desk job, and Lucy felt bad about the sacrifice that he was making so that they could date, so in the most recent episode, “Daddy Cop” (named after the hilariously catchy song performed by Zander Hawley at the start of the episode), she maneuvers things so that an opening for a sergeant will be created in the Metro division, which Tim gladly fills instead of his court duties.
Okay, so reader Sarah C. wrote in to ask what, exactly, the “Metro Division” was in terms of the LAPD.
Well, the Los Angeles Police Department splits Los Angeles into a number of geographic “divisions” that work like precincts in New York City. On The Rookie, the cops all work out of the fictional Mid-Wilshire Division, with most of them working out of patrol, but some of the characters working in the detective side of the Division.
The Metropolitan Division, or the “Metro” Division, was a specialized division initially created in 1933 to move throughout Los Angeles to suppress criminal activity.
Nowadays, it is split into a number of specialized sub-divisions, like Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), the Mounted division, and divisions dealing with hostage situations specifically. The main aspect of the Metro, though, is the Tactical Response Teams, which make up the B and C Platoons within the Division (SWAT is the D Platoon, A is for administrative duties).
Here’s how the LAPD itself describes the Metro Division:
Today, the primary responsibility of Metro is to provide support to the Department’s community-based policing efforts by enhancing community outreach efforts, providing advanced level of in-service training, providing support to Area and specialized detectives locating known, violent criminals, providing resources for warrant services, and the apprehension of fugitives throughout the City. Other assignments range from high-risk barricaded situations, stakeouts, dignitary (VIP) security, warrant service, training Department personnel in tactics and firearms along with assisting investigators in solving major crimes.
And here is what it says is its mission statement:
The mission of Metropolitan Division is to support the Department’s community-based policing efforts to reduce the incidence and the fear of crime on a Citywide basis. This is accomplished by developing and deploying a reserve force of the most highly trained and disciplined personnel possible.
The effectiveness of the Department’s incident commanders in realizing the long-term goals of the Department is enhanced by Metropolitan Division’s controlled application of specialized tactics/equipment and the ongoing training and leadership provided by Metropolitan Division to the Department.
So there’s plenty of story possibilities for Bradford to get involved with in the Metro Division, and he’s now out of Lucy’s direct line of reporting, so their romance is no longer against policy.
Thanks to Sarah for the question! If anyone else has a pop culture question, drop me a line at my new and much shorter e-mail, brian@poprefs.com!
It’s reasonable and realistic that over time personnel will change: people will come and go, advance in their careers, friendships and relationships will evolve, and in law enforcementeven die. But for me “shipping” those two characters feels unnatural. I’ve never seen the attraction probably due to my own personal lukewarm feelings about Lucy Chen. This is one way to get out of the corner the showrunners and writers painted themselves into, but I think it continues marginalizing Bradford.
It’s definitely stretching themselves thing where two of their cast members are patrol officers, one is the patrol officers’ boss, two are detectives, one is a training officer with a trainee and one is now in a whole other division.