Hollywood Intersection Will Commemorate Officer Ian Campbell

Officer Ian Campbell has been one of the Los Angeles Police Department's influential figures, shaping the department's policy on weapon retention and how a fallen officer is remembered at a funeral.

In his honor, the Hollywood intersection where he and his partner, Karl Hettinger, were kidnapped in what is known today as "The Onion Field" case will be dedicated in Campbell's memory during a ceremony Friday afternoon.

Councilman Eric Garcetti, who took the dedication idea to City Council, will participate in the ceremony at 1:30 p.m. to rename the intersection of Carlos and Gower streets "Ian Campbell Square."

The incident, which would later become a book authored by Joseph Wamabaugh and a movie, occured on March 9, 1963.

Campbell and Hettinger were plainclothes officers driving in an unmarked car. The officers had stopped a car with two men Gregory Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith. In a turn of events, the suspects were able to get the officers to surrender their guns. Taken at gunpoint, the officers were taken to an onion field in southern Kern County. 

Campbell was executed. Hettinger was able to get away and call for help.

Ultimately, Powell and Smith were captured and received prison sentences. Gregory Powell, was  after pleading for compassionate release on grounds that he suffered from terminal prostate cancer. His accomplice, Jimmy Lee Smith, died in 2007.

Until 1963, LAPD had no formal written policy on weapons retention until this case.

Campbell, a bagpiper, was the first officer to have the instrument played at his funeral. As a result, the tradition has carried on to funerals for LAPD officers killed in the line of duty.

Patch will be there for the dedication ceremony Friday afternoon. Check back for an update.

- This report was compiled with information provided by the Office of Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.