LAPD police station to be renamed in honor of Margaret 'Peggy' York
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Police Department Friday announced the renaming of the Northeast Area Community Police Station in honor of Margaret "Peggy" York, the department's first female deputy chief.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore called the renaming of the station in Glassell Park "a true testament to her steadfast tenacity and spirit."
"Her legacy will continue to inspire the present-day women and men of the Los Angeles Police Department and future generations," said Moore, who will be joined at the announcement by Mayor Eric Garcetti, retired Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, who was married to York from 1981 until her death, and other dignitaries.
York worked as a radio telephone operator with the LAPD from 1965-68, when she entered the Police Academy, becoming a policewoman on April 22, 1968, when women were only allowed to work certain assignments.
"She joined policing at a time when women were faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles," Moore said following York's death on Oct. 17, 2021, at age 80. "As a pioneer, she demonstrated true grit and utilized her talents to ascend to the highest ranks within the department.
"Along the way, she touched many lives and it was truly an honor to have worked alongside such a humble leader."
York worked a variety of assignments as an investigator, most notably as half of an all-female homicide investigation team which inspired the 1982-88 CBS series, "Cagney & Lacey." She went on to become a supervisor, lieutenant, captain and commander.
York retired from the LAPD on Nov. 17, 2002. She was chief of the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety from 2003-09, worked as a consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and founded the Margaret York Company consulting and investigations firm.
"Her name will persevere the test of time and signify to current and future women that they can attain whatever they set their hearts to," said LAPD Cmdr. Ruby Flores, the department's diversity, equity & inclusion officer, and president of Los Angeles Women Police Officers and Associates.
"We will carry on that flame that burned inside Chief York's soul. We climb the hills she once climbed alone, because she not only led the way, but because she showed us how."