The LA Ten Four is a newsletter covering issues surrounding first responders in the Los Angeles area.

The LA Ten Four is committed to shining a light on those who respond to crises in Los Angeles: firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, dispatchers, police officers, federal law enforcement and search-and-rescue teams. It’s a delve into the challenges, blunders and triumphs.

Rather than a police blotter, or “public safety” reporting this newsletter aims to take an eye and ask how can we improve? We don’t shy away from holding law enforcement accountable. “First responder” is often used as a catch-all that blurs the lines between public safety and policing. The LA Ten Four separates the two, and interrogates the role of police forces whose history is often marked by abuse, corruption, waste and violence against those they are tasked to protect.

The LA Ten Four will also look at issues that affect firefighting, and firefighters. In the wake of the devastating dual tragedies of the Eaton and Palisades Fires in Los Angeles County, the topic looms large as recovery and relief are marked by their own challenges.

While the focus will be on those first responders, this blog will occasionally wade into community events as well as how political decisions influence the operations of those that walk first into crisis.

About Sean Beckner-Carmitchel

This newsletter is a passion project of Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, an LA-based multimedia journalist.