LAPD Police Station Could be Named After Former Pasadena Resident

The LA City Council could vote on a motion to name a Los Angeles Police Department station after former District 7 resident Margaret “Peggy” York.

The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday, March 1, unanimously voted to recommend naming one of the Police Department’s 21 stations York, who died in October. 

York was a trailblazer in the department and became the first female deputy chief in the LAPD. She was also part of the department’s first all-female homicide detective team that inspired the hit television series Cagney and Lacey that ran for seven season. 

York ran for Pasadena City Council District 7 in 2009, but lost to future Mayor Terry Tornek after former District 7 Councilmember Sid Tyler stepped down. York managed to finish ahead of five other candidates to make it to a runoff but only managed to garner 46.2 percent of the vote in the runoff election. 

She remained active in Pasadena-area nonprofit causes.

She was married to Lance Ito, who presided over the O.J. Simpson trial. 

Described as a trailblazer by her peers, York was first appointed to the LAPD in 1965 as a radio telephone operator and worked in that capacity until 1968 when she entered the police academy, becoming a policewoman on April 22, 1968 — a time when women were only allowed to work certain assignments.

York — born August 4, 1941 in Canton, Ohio — retired from the LAPD on November 17, 2002, and was last assigned to Operations-Central Bureau. She later was appointed the Chief of Police for the Los Angeles County Police and worked as a consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, founding the Margaret York Company consulting and investigations firm and serving as its president and CEO.

The Los Angeles Police Women Police Officers and Associates President Commander Ruby Flores issued a statement about the inspirational example York set for countless women in the LAPD.

“(York) was not afraid to challenge conventional roles for women … The law enforcement community is poorer without her intellect, her wisdom and her generosity,” Flores said. “We lost a titan of a woman, but her legacy and contribution towards the advancement of women on the LAPD will live on.”

On Tuesday, Flores called on the commission to honor York.