That is the question explored by journalist John Buntin in a new piece for Governing magazine. Buntin comes at the subject with extensive background: he's the author of a new book, "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City," which tells in detail about the LAPD culture's father figure, the late chief William Parker. From the magazine story:

From the moment Bratton took over the LAPD as chief to last month’s announcement that he would leave at the end of October for a private-sector job, Bratton has struggled to supplant the fiercely independent culture Parker manufactured. The story of how one great chief sought to overturn the legacy of another isn’t just about dueling philosophies of policing. It’s a lesson in leadership for any public manager who’s ever struggled to modernize a bureaucracy that remains stuck in another era....

Parker was a propagandist, whose frequent speeches defended his department and belittled its critics. He grasped how Dragnet’s popularity could burnish the LAPD’s image—he supplied the show’s producers with case files that put the department in the best possible light. Nothing captured Parker’s technocratic ideal more than the famous Dragnet line, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Bratton, in contrast, focused heavily on changing the mindset of his top managers, particularly the 106 officers in the department who held the rank of captain or higher.

I'll be talking to Buntin about his book and the LAPD's history when I host Politics of Culture on KCRW a week from today.