by John Hawkins,
President and CEO, The Club
As we were putting together our cover story this month on the LAFD’s Arson/Counter-Terrorism, we met Arson Investigator – and let’s say City legend — Rosa Tufts, 35 years of City service. Rosa was the first female Arson Investigator and, earlier, was the second LAFD female engineer. Now she works on special investigations and major crimes with the LAPD. She’s set to retire in April. In her office, she described investigating suspicious fires as kind of like sculpture – you take away material to determine the truth of a situation. “Our investigations are in reverse,” she told us. “Instead of seeing what’s there, we take a look at a scene and try to determine what was there before.
“But in the end, a detective is a detective is a detective. It’s quite addicting, challenging, demanding and rewarding.”
Thank you, Rosa, for your amazing commitment and service to the people of Los Angeles. I’m sorry that we’re catching up with you only now, but we wish you a fantastic retirement come April.
— John
