Behind the Bastards — Part One: Daryl Gates: The Man Who Invented SWAT Teams and DARE
Host: Robert Evans | Guest: Bridget Todd
Date: October 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the life of Daryl Gates, the infamous Los Angeles police chief largely responsible for the militarization of U.S. law enforcement, the creation and naming of SWAT teams, and the invention of the DARE anti-drug program. Host Robert Evans and guest Bridget Todd trace Gates’ early life, formative traumas, and rise through LAPD ranks. They explore how Gates' personal experiences and attitudes contributed to the contemporary realities of American policing, and set the stage for the LAPD’s transformation into a paramilitary force.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Daryl Gates?

• Evans frames Gates as a pivotal, if overlooked, architect of modern American policing:
  “He is maybe the single most important figure in the militarization of US law enforcement. He co-created and named the first SWAT team, invented the DARE program, and played a major role in the birth of Hollywood copaganda.” (03:27)
• Gates’ legacy directly affects today’s protest policing, militarized responses, and the public image of law enforcement.

2. Gates’ Childhood and Formative Experiences

Instability, Trauma, and Poverty

• Born in 1926, Gates’ early life in Glendale, CA was disrupted by the Great Depression; his family was forced into poverty.
• His father became an alcoholic, frequently absent, and sometimes abusive, while his mother worked grueling factory jobs.
• Gates feels deep shame about growing up poor and on government handouts:
  “Once a week, I would go with my father ... I would hold my gunny sack while people tossed in potatoes, cabbage and lettuce. I always felt a little embarrassed...” (13:26, quoting Gates’ memoir)
• Evans and Todd note a tendency—seen in other figures like J.D. Vance—for people who benefited from social programs to later resent or oppose them.

Relationship with Police as a Child

• Early experiences with police were negative. His father’s drinking brought repeated, traumatic confrontations:
  “[Police] rushing in. In those days, they didn’t stand on ceremony. They just pushed in past my mother. … As an adolescent, Daryl saw law enforcement as ‘just a plague on society.’” (19:23, quoting Gates’ memoir)
• Evans: “It’s so sad that he grows up understanding … that the police are fundamentally cruel and destructive, then still chooses to become one.” (20:25)

Health Crisis and Neglect

• Gates recounts an episode of severe neglect—his father ignored a life-threatening illness, leading to a painful, extended convalescence alone:
  “For three months, he was basically rotting alone in bed … just laying there alone, stewing in his anger.” (22:56)

3. Early Violence and Attitude towards Authority

• Fighting and boxing became key outlets for Gates’ aggression; both Evans and Todd remark on how this went largely unexamined by Gates.
• Gates’ earliest legal trouble: as a teen, he punched a cop who had pushed his brother, but charges were dropped after an apology. Rather than reflecting on lucky treatment, Gates expresses disbelief anyone could beat him on the police exam, showing early signs of narcissism (36:23).

4. Joining the LAPD: From Outsider to Insider

• Gates initially despised the idea of police work:
  “[There was] no way in the world will I ever be a dumb cop.” (35:28)
• But, pressure to support a growing family and good pay drew him to the LAPD—evoking parallels to modern recruitment for controversial agencies:
  Todd: “I can’t help but think about … ‘Join ICE, you get a signing bonus.’ … It makes me think there’s a kind of person who will just forget how harmful these jobs are...” (41:46)
• Gates’ own memoir reveals a shift: once in the academy, “he met so many great guys that he realizes, oh no, I’ve been wrong about cops all along” (38:01). Evans notes Gates never reconciled his prior hatred for police with his newfound admiration as a recruit.

5. Rise Through LAPD Ranks and Early LAPD Culture

“Celebrity Influencer” Police Chief

• Gates frames himself as a proto-celebrity cop, with an autobiography named “Chief.”
• He describes early experiences as Chief Parker’s chauffeur—gaining “a front seat to this revolutionary period in LAPD history” (53:24).

Culture of Violence and Jokes About Abuse

• Significant “joke” recounted: Gates’ colleagues file a fake child rape report against him as a prank, which Gates describes with no visible discomfort:
  “The joke is filing a fake child rape report for him … He thought he raped a kid… And then you’d say that about your colleagues: I respected my— I really had my mind changed.” (60:21, 60:56)
• Both hosts are appalled, drawing a line from these anecdotes to persistent issues in police culture.

6. William Parker: Gates’ Mentor and The LAPD’s Transformation

• Parker is depicted as a deeply influential chief whose reforms made LAPD “less corrupt and more professional ... also turning it into one that was aggressive, intimidating and confrontational by design” (46:38).
• Notably, Parker was a raging alcoholic—Gates frequently had to drive him drunk, directly paralleling his own father.
• Parker instilled militaristic, paramilitary attitudes in the LAPD, shaping police mythology and practice for generations.

7. Setting the Stage for Modern Crisis

• By 1965, Gates oversaw patrol in Watts, a heavily policed Black neighborhood, right on the eve of the Watts riots—a harbinger of his later role in the 1992 Rodney King unrest:
  “He gets made the inspector overseeing all patrol officers in … Watts. … The same guy was on deck for both [the Watts uprising and Rodney King riots] … Unbelievable.” (62:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On DARE’s impact:
  “I will never forgive him for making me spend what could have been a free period … watching a police officer sing a song about why you shouldn’t do drugs and play acoustic guitar.” —Bridget Todd (03:56)
• On police as outsiders:
  “As an adolescent, Daryl saw law enforcement as ‘just a plague on society.’” —Robert Evans, quoting Gates (19:23)
• “[Gates’] most consistent characteristic is that he never learns the right thing from the things that happen to him with a consistency that's like impressive in its fucked up edness.” —Robert Evans (39:19)
• On LAPD promotion culture:
  “You know, the chief likes him. He’s the golden boy. He drove him around, they bonded. So … he’s never going to get turned down for a promotion when he goes up for it.” —Robert Evans (61:30)
• On cop “pranks”:
  “You thought you raped a kid. You were thinking back to remember if you’d raped that kid. Ha ha, ha ha.” —Robert Evans, reacting to Gates’ anecdote (60:32)
• On the LAPD’s changing relationship with the city:
  “Parker reinvented the LAPD, making it … aggressive, intimidating, and confrontational by design, a small force of faceless paramilitary cops and patrol cars. Policing through fear.” —Robert Evans, quoting Dominique (46:38)
• “There’s four guys in all of history and two of them are Daryl Gates. The other two are Hitler. It’s just Daryl Gates and Hitler all the way down, baby.” —Robert Evans (63:46)

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:01 – Episode opening, introduction of Bridget Todd
• 03:27 – Why Daryl Gates matters: his impact on policing
• 07:07 – Gates’ autobiography “Chief” and early family dynamics
• 13:26 – Gates’ shame about poverty and welfare
• 19:23 – Childhood encounters with police and growing resentment
• 22:56 – Childhood illness and emotional neglect
• 35:28 – Gates’ initial refusal to join LAPD
• 41:46 – Discussion of jobs with moral costs and recruitment parallels
• 46:38 – Introduction to William Parker and LAPD transformation
• 53:24 – Gates as Parker’s chauffeur; early LAPD politics
• 60:21 – Child rape “joke” anecdote illustrating police culture
• 62:40 – Gates in charge of LAPD during Watts; foreshadowing Rodney King riots

Tone and Style

• Conversational, irreverent, and darkly humorous — true to the Behind the Bastards signature.
• Hosts mix deep historical research with personal reflections and pointed cultural criticism, often underscored by sardonic wit.

Resources and Recommendations

• Upcoming: Part Two will draw heavily from Mike Davis’ "City of Quartz"
• Books cited:
  • Daryl Gates' "Chief" (autobiography)
  • John Bunton, "L.A. Noire"
• Bridget Todd’s podcast: There Are No Girls on the Internet

This episode is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the roots of contemporary police militarization, the mythology of “tough on crime” leaders, and the personal and institutional attitudes that shaped 20th-century U.S. policing.