The Birth of "The Bulldogs"

The Bulldog logo of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau, has become one of the most recognized law enforcement insignias in the nation.  Homicide investigations often require travel throughout the United States and sometimes abroad. When law enforcement professionals exchange memorabilia representing their agencies, the LASD “Bulldog” has become prized as a symbol of excellence.

The Homicide Bulldog was born more than 25 years ago when, on December 18, 1977, the 'Los Angeles Times' featured a story comparing homicide cases investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with those investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department. In that article, a veteran prosecutor was quoted as saying;

“You want to know why the Sheriff’s conviction rate is so much higher in homicide, not just last year, but for several years? It is because the guys from the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are a bunch of bulldogs.”

“From the time they are called to the murder scene, until we prosecutors get the case through the courts, they never let go....and I mean on every murder case, not just the high publicity cases....”

“They are routinely tenacious, and the investigator assigned to the case sticks with it until the end. There is no shuttling cases to somebody else.   With the Sheriff’s people, if you need follow-up done, they are marvelous; they are super. They even give you their home phone numbers in volunteering to help out.”

In the twenty five years since that story appeared, the 'Bulldog' has become and continues to be the symbol of homicide investigators of many agencies and their tenacity as they investigate Homicide cases.