Declaring "I will not let you down," Police Chief Charlie Beck took the oath of office Thursday to become the 56th leader of the Los Angeles Police Department in a formal celebration of his appointment.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck receives applause after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave him the oath of office today. The ceremony took place in the courtyard of the new Police Administration Building in Los Angeles. (Photo: John McCoy/ Daily News)

Beck has been on the job for two weeks and has already begun remaking the command staff as he takes over a department from Chief William Bratton, who was able to drive down crime to historic low levels and generate the most popular support it has ever had.

"I recognize this is not for me, it is for the work done by the officers," Beck said, referring to the ceremony in the forecourt of the new Police Administration Building.

Beck, 56, is a 32-year veteran of the department and belongs to a family with deep ties to the LAPD. His father, George, was a deputy chief. His sister was a detective and he has two children on the force.

George Beck pinned the chief's badge on his son's uniform and asked him: "Are you ready?"

Beck replied: "I'm ready. Thanks, Pop."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pointed to that family history.

"This is a man who represents the past of the department, is part of its present and will shape its future," Villaraigosa said.

While the event and Beck's day - which included a barbecue with officers at the Police Academy and a gala dinner hosted by the Police Foundation at the Getty Center - was a tribute to the department, there was also a dose of reality.

An off-duty police officer, Kenneth Aragon, 48, was killed in a crash early Wednesday morning as he rode a motorcycle in Atwater Village on his way to work in the Northeast Division. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which is under investigation. The 19-year LAPD veteran was married with five children.

"It is a tragic loss that reminds us of the dangers we all face every day," Beck said.

And, he said, it drove home the need for the department to continue working to keep the city safe and push for an expanded force.

"The Los Angeles Police Department has a vast and glorious history," Beck said. "It also has a history that we have tried to put behind us in some instance. It is the responsibility of the chief of police to continue the glory days.

"It is a heavy obligation. But, I have come to realize it is not an obligation, but an opportunity to take the next step forward for the Los Angeles Police Department."

Beck is taking over a department with more than 9,900 officers and 3,000 civilian employees that has come through a rigorous court oversight with the federal consent decree imposed after the Rampart Division corruption scandal in the late 1990s.

Beck was selected partly because of his commitment to embrace the reforms in the consent decree and reach out to a diverse community for help. It was evident in those who came to see the swearing-in and were participating in the various events.

At his morning ceremony, the grandstand was shared by former Chief Daryl F. Gates and his longtime critic, former state Sen. Tom Hayden. In the crowd, there were civil rights advocates such as attorneys Connie Rice and Carol Sobel.