A spokesperson for the LAPD said that the department's former headquarters at Parker Center has closed for good.

Elected officials and top ranking members of the department gathered outside of the building on Tuesday afternoon.   Several hundred other LAPD employees joined them in watching Chief Charlie Beck symbolically chain and padlock the doors.   Parker Center had been the home of police operations from 1955 until 2009.  The once headquarters had been named after chief William Parker, who had transformed the LAPD from a corrupt institution to a finely-tuned machine.

Hollywood producers frequently used the building as a backdrop for television and film series.  Infamous criminals Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan had once been housed there.  Many would agree that Parker Center had a rich and vibrant history.

As the years past the building reportedly became ran down.  Some members of the department began to question whether the structure would be able to withstand a large earthquake in the instance one hit the LA area.  That concern was the primary driving force behind moving the police headquarters to the new Police Administration Building which is located just south of City Hall.  That move took place in Oct. 2009.

Since that time inmates who would have been booked and detained at Parker Center are have instead been rerouted to the Los Angeles Metro Jail in downtown LA.  This facility has approximately 512 beds and spans nearly 180,000 square feet.  This jail is a Type I facility and serves as a temporary holding facility for inmates pending arraignment.   Bail bonds can be posted at this location 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

City officials have not yet decided the fate of the Parker Center building.  It is unclear whether it will be repurposed or if the structure will face demolition.