Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) joined members of the Los Angeles Police Department and community leaders in dedicating the Hollenbeck Community Police Station in Boyle Heights in honor of the late Capt. Rudy De Leon.
The first Latino commanding officer in LAPD history, the congresswoman praised Capt. De Leon for opening the department’s doors to other Latino officers. She also congratulated members of his family in attendance, including his son, LAPD Officer Rudy De Leon II (who is shown shaking the congresswoman’s hand). About 30 years ago, Rudy De Leon II followed in his father’s footsteps when he joined the ranks of the LAPD. Today he works with the department’s Mounted Unit.
Capt. De Leon served as commanding officer at Hollenbeck Station in the 1970s where he quickly earned a reputation as a leader who actively engaged the community, as well as his civilian and sworn staff. During his helm at Hollenbeck, he instituted a number of positive changes, including launching a boxing program to keep area youth out of trouble, which still exists today as the Hollenbeck Youth Center.
De Leon, who passed away in 2009, now becomes the first Latino to have an LAPD police station dedicated in his honor.
Born in Watts in 1924 to immigrant parents from Mexico, the senior De Leon and his siblings sold his mother’s homemade tamales door to door to earn money.
A former boxer and Navy veteran, De Leon entered LAPD’s Police Academy in 1947, one of only three minority recruits in a class of 135. In 1967, De Leon was one of the founders of the Latin American Law Enforcement Association (LA LEY), and even taught classes at Fullerton College, becoming the campus’ first minority instructor.
After retiring from the LAPD in 1978, Governor Jerry Brown appointed De Leon to the Parole Board in Sacramento. He later became a Special Assistant to Attorney General John Van de Kamp, and even served as an Ombudsperson for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In 1989, he became the first Chairman of the Board for the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.
