I had an interesting afternoon last week, meeting with the LAPD Chief William Bratton. No, I wasn’t under arrest.

His Public Information Officer, Mary Grady, saw an editorial cartoon of mine that I drew for LAObserved.com about a naming controversy for the new LAPD headquarters under construction
(the current mid-1950s building is named Parker Center, for former chief William H. Parker, who is now seen as too racist by today’s standards)
and asked me to provide a signed copy of the cartoon to give to the chief.

I originally asked if they could pay me a little something for creating and mailing a color print — I don’t get paid anything for doing my LAObserved cartoons — but the department, like the rest of L.A. government, is flat broke. They then offered a chance to hand it to him in person. I figured that this would at least be a small adventure that I would not normally have.

After waiting 20 minutes in the Public Information office for Bratton to be free — he was having a busy day, with a press conference about policing the Lakers’ victory celebration and a bunch of internal review meetings later — I was ushered into his large office.

Bratton is gray haired, tan and trim, and was very personable, ushering out a little boy of about 3 — he and I were evidently the “light” appointments this day, breaking up the heavier scheduled events.

He apparently likes editorial cartoons, with a few others framed on the wall (two were by Patrick O’Connor, laid off in January from the Daily News). I told him I was his “easiest and least important appointment of the day” and told him I didn’t get many chances to meet a “rock star” of law enforcement, which he surely is (hey, the Queen of England just gave Bratton the title of “Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire,” a step below knighthood, in recognition of his “work to promote cooperation between the United States and United Kingdom police,” according to promotional material). He laughed at the reference and (fortunately) laughed at the cartoon,.

I made sure to mention that my wife was from Boston, as is he (and both from the Dorchester neighborhood, which she coached me to pronounce “Daw-chestuh”). He seemed a bit vague on the streets I mentioned, and guessed maybe my wife was from NORTH Dorchester. Like I’d know.

The chief is a savvy politician as well as a cop, and is well prepared for visitors, with an array of items, including matching gift bags, all with “LAPD Chief” insignias, to hand out to those who come by. He sent me home with an LAPD coffee mug, cap and a copy of his 1998 book, “Turnaround” (when he was the NYPD chief) about “America’s Top Cop,” which he signed for me (I can just imagine him thinking, “Great, I’m now down to 253 of these! Three more books, and we can get rid of another cardboard carton from the garage!”). I left with a couple of “grip & greet” photos too.

Oh, I made sure to ask Mary, the Public Information Officer, about whether they use graphic artists (they do, but the city has a hiring freeze on now), but gave her my card in case they, say, need a caricature on the side or something. Never hurts to work one’s network when you’re underemployed.

Or maybe in this case, to work one’s dragnet.