copying them for their own units. No similar full-time surveillance-only units are known to exist in other major police departments in the U.S.—most that did were disbanded or modified due to violence or resource waste concerns—and existing police surveillance units state they would intervene to prevent surveilled suspects from committing a major crime such as robbery or burglary, even if arresting the suspect then would result in lesser charges or sentences. Fallen detectives As of 2023, only one SIS member has been killed in the line of duty, as a result of friendly fire. On March 10, 1980, Detective Curtis C. Hagele was part of an SIS team surveilling a suspect and an accomplice being investigated for bank robberies. At around 2:00 pm, the team prepared to confront the suspect while he was robbing an American Savings and Loan branch in Manhattan Beach. The suspect fled with his stolen $1,500 into a parking structure where his getaway car, driven by his accomplice, was parked; the SIS team chased him, and they exchanged fire. As the suspect climbed a stairwell to the upper level of the parking structure, an unidentified detective fired his shotgun in the direction of the suspect just as Hagele crossed into his line of fire. The shotgun pellets struck Hagele in the chest and abdomen, mortally wounding him. The suspect was shot and killed by another detective, while the suspect's accomplice was arrested in the getaway car without incident. In popular culture The SIS has been depicted in numerous fictional works, including the film Ambulance and the television series Major Crimes and Training Day. See also Research and Intervention Brigade – similar units in the French National Police Special Investigation Team – similar units in Japanese prefectural police References Los Angeles Police Department units 1965 establishments in California