Rarely Seen Crime Scene and Evidence Photographs Discovered in LAPD Archives

Until recently, an old, deteriorated collection of no less than one million crime scene photographs rested silently in the nearly forgotten archives of the Los Angeles Police department; spanning 150 years of violence and corruption, these images were only recently discovered by the photographer Merrick Morton, who is also a reserve LAPD officer, learned of the giant archive when he went digging for LAPD photos for an exhibition he had planned at Fototeka, which he owns and operates with his wife.

Morgue, man with floral tattoo, 1945 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Shoes, arm, and knife, 1950 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Detail of two bullet holes in car window, 1942 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Onion field reenactment, 1963 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Victim’s feet hanging off bed, 1934 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Bank robbery note, 1965 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

Detail of bullet holes in screen, 1930 © LAPD. Courtesy of Fototeka.

(via Beautiful Decay)