Daryl F. Gates, 83, L.A. police chief

LOS ANGELES - Daryl F. Gates, 83, the rookie cop who rose from driver for a legendary chief to become chief himself, leading the Los Angeles Police Department during a turbulent 14-year period that found him struggling to keep pace with a city undergoing dramatic racial and ethnic changes, died Friday at his home in Dana Point, Calif., after a short battle with cancer.

Mr. Gates, whose tenure ran from 1978 to 1992, spent his entire four-decade career at the LAPD, where he won national attention for innovative approaches to crime fighting and prevention: He instituted military-style SWAT units to handle crises and the gentler DARE classroom program to prevent drug abuse.

These initiatives, emulated by police departments across the United States, and other advances, such as a communications system that reduced police response times, bolstered his reputation as an exemplar of modern law enforcement. Former President George H. W. Bush called him an "all-American hero."

A proud emblem of progress to some, Mr. Gates was a disturbing symbol of stagnation to others. When the city went up in flames in 1992 over the acquittal of four white officers accused of beating black motorist Rodney King, he was castigated as a leader out of touch with the changing realities of the city, yet to the end he remained righteous about his authority to police it.

Faced with a proliferation of illegal drugs and street violence, he hammered gangs with police sweeps and broke into crack dens with an armored vehicle.

By turns charming and brash, articulate and tactless, Mr. Gates generated controversy with gaffes about Latinos, African Americans, and Jews, most famously with a remark about black people faring poorly under police chokeholds because their physiology was different from that of "normal" people.

Mr. Gates "fought vigorously to make sure the chief's duties were not encroached upon. That comes from understanding the struggles Bill Parker went through moving the department out of corruption," said City Councilman and former Police Chief Bernard C. Parks. He was referring to William H. Parker, the tough, reform-minded chief in the 1950s and '60s, who became Mr. Gates' mentor.

Mr. Gates began his career in 1949 in the traffic division, working as an accident investigator until he was transferred to patrol. He was tapped to serve as driver and bodyguard for Parker, newly installed as chief.