The New Centurions (novel)

The New Centurions (1971) is a novel authored by American writer Joseph Wambaugh, which explores the psychological pressures faced by police officers in Los Angeles, California during the early 1960s. Wambaugh composed this first novel while actively serving with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The story was subsequently adapted into a film featuring George C. Scott and Stacy Keach.

Plot summary

Structured in an episodic format, the narrative delves into the mental toll of police duty on three LAPD officers—Serge Duran, Gus Plebesly, and Roy Fehler—who all graduated from the 1960 police academy. Their professional lives are chronicled each August over several years, culminating in their joint experience during the 1965 Watts riots.

The New Centurions stands as one of Wambaugh’s most autobiographical novels, employing a straightforward third-person narration that shifts focus among the three main characters. Their career paths closely parallel Wambaugh’s own progression, moving from patrol assignments in minority neighborhoods to undercover roles within juvenile and vice divisions—key elements that inform his storytelling.

The book also sheds light on personal struggles faced by officers outside their professional duties, including themes like infidelity, alcoholism, racial prejudice, and notably, suicide—a recurrent motif in Wambaugh’s literature. A significant theme is the transformation rookies undergo to become seasoned officers—defined by the LAPD as having five years of service—and how their perspectives contrast with those of long-established colleagues.

Serge Duran

Duran’s background mirrors that of Wambaugh; he joined the LAPD in 1954 immediately after high school following service in the U.S. Marines. As a Chicano with light features and limited command of Spanish, his initial posting is uniformed patrol in the Hollenbeck Division located in East LA, where he harbors resentment over the fact that all Chicano officers are assigned there. Though initially rejecting his ethnic identity, Duran gradually embraces it, particularly after a brief stint in the Hollywood Division and subsequent return to Hollenbeck.

Paired with a passive partner, Duran earns a recommendation for detective work focusing on felonies within the Chicano division. He eventually transfers to Juvenile Division detective duties to avoid reassignment and bolster his professional credentials. Much of his storyline revolves around Mexican eateries where he develops a romantic attachment to Mariana Paloma, a waitress who encourages him to accept his cultural roots.

Among the three protagonists, Duran is portrayed with less complexity but plays a pivotal role in the novel’s climax, reflecting experiences akin to those of Wambaugh himself.

Gus Plebesly

Plebesly hails from a middle class suburban upbringing in Azusa. Having married young and fathered two children by age 22, he left a banking position pursuing greater prestige and income through joining the LAPD. Physically slender and meeting only minimal fitness standards, Plebesly excels as a distance runner but struggles with fears of cowardice despite performing well at the academy.

He is assigned to University Division (currently known as LAPD's "Southwest Area"), an overwhelmingly black neighborhood plagued by high crime rates. His initial partner is veteran officer Andy Kilvinsky, who serves as a mentor. Kilvinsky offers practical advice on policing tactics and overcoming self-doubt, cautioning that one year in University Division equates to ten years elsewhere in terms of intensity. Kilvinsky’s personal sacrifices serve both as inspiration and warning.

After two years on patrol, Plebesly attains veteran status and begins training new recruits using lessons learned from Kilvinsky. The University Division becomes increasingly unstable amid escalating tensions involving Black Muslim groups. While some colleagues succumb to racist attitudes, Plebesly resists such biases.

Feeling confined by his early marriage and troubled by divorces among peers, Plebesly’s budding interest in a female Juvenile Division officer is abruptly ended following Kilvinsky’s suicide—a tragedy he discovers indirectly through probate documents.

Roy Fehler

Fehler, who was married and had left college early, initially pursued criminology but abandoned it out of boredom. He joined the LAPD to gain direct exposure to crime, considering himself intellectually superior to his colleagues despite showing little enthusiasm for physical training or firearms handling.

He was assigned to the Newton Division, known as the poorest all-black precinct, where he partnered with veteran officer Whitey Duncan, an alcoholic who often drank while on duty. Fehler’s contempt for Duncan’s streetwise methods concealed his own growing disillusionment with the department’s bureaucracy. His rapport with partners was tense, and his marriage deteriorated following the birth of his daughter Becky, who remained his only source of optimism.

After two years, Fehler briefly worked in Vice at Central Division before being transferred to the violent Seventy-Seventh Division in Watts, which intensified his bitterness. After responding to a distressing call involving an abused infant, Fehler was shot in the abdomen during a liquor store robbery. His recovery was lengthy and painful, including undergoing a colostomy, and he suffered derision from his family. Upon returning to duty in Watts, he adopted heavy drinking habits similar to Duncan’s and was suspended without pay for 60 days due to alcohol consumption while on duty.

Fehler’s transformation began when he took a burglary report from Laura Hunt, a young black dental technician. They developed a romantic relationship, and during his suspension, she supported him in overcoming his alcoholism. Laura helped ground him, breaking down his arrogance and conceit, allowing Fehler to begin finding inner peace.

The Watts riots

Drawing from his own experience as an officer during the Watts riots, Wambaugh delivers a measured narrative in the novel’s concluding section. The story centers on three key characters and highlights how a single personal act of violence affects them more profoundly than the widespread chaos.

The opening chapter depicts the riot through Serge Duran’s anxiety while confined at Hollenbeck awaiting deployment. Three officers in a radio car reveal their confusion and lack of direction as they manage to suppress looting at just one store on a single block, illustrating how limited force can control much of the disorder. On his way home, Duran orders menudo, symbolizing an embrace of his Hispanic heritage.

In the second chapter, Gus Plebesly and his partners face a crowd attempting to set fire to a grocery. Plebesly bravely arrests several rioters, including a larger opponent, learning to confront his fear despite persistent anxiety.

The third chapter focuses on Roy Fehler, who primarily observes while pinned behind a fire engine under threat from a sniper. A sergeant organizes scattered officers into coordinated action; however, an incident involving a vehicle pursuit, near machine-gun fire at a National Guard roadblock, and a crashed looters’ vehicle casts a grim atmosphere. Roy returns home to Laura, dismisses her apology regarding the riot (she is black), unwinds in a bath, and proposes marriage.

Adaptations

In 1972, Columbia Pictures transformed The New Centurions into a motion picture, featuring performances by George C. Scott as Andy Kilvinsky and Stacy Keach portraying Roy Fehler. For every week the novel appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list, Columbia compensated Wambaugh with $1,250. The book first appeared on the list on February 21, 1971, maintaining its presence for a total of 32 weeks.