Right-wing former LAPD chief Daryl Gates dies

One of the unfortunate things about following current events in recent years is that there's a lot more negative than positive. So you remember the names of foes much longer than you do of allies.

As with Jesse Helms, longtime Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates was one individual who I was highly suspicious of - due to his ultraconservative rants and actions.

Gates died today at the age of 83 after a long illness.

The career of L.A.'s top cop was marked with controversy. He helped found the ineffective DARE program, which grew into such a spectacle that all it did was encourage kids to turn in their parents for smoking a joint.

I often confused Gates with William Bennett because they both claimed that recreational marijuana users should be shot on sight. He also claimed that even casual drug use was "treason."

Daryl Gates's years as a police chief were also marked by allegations of racism in the police department.