In February Mr Bratton asked them, publicly, not to keep broadcasting live coverage of car chases, watched by too many people hoping to see crashes and violence. (They get alerts to their pagers when a chase starts.) The police reckon that such coverage encourages show-offs to embark on wild escapades, and gives the impression of a city rife with crime.

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Eliot Lewis-Ward, of English Partnerships, said the station gives visitors their first impression of the city.

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Just months after opening his first eatery in Europe, a branch of CUT, serving high-end dry aged prime beef, in the revamped and luxurious 45 Park Lane Hotel in London, he has made an even bigger impression in the City of Angels.

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The overwhelming impression is of a city with an apparently irrepressible ability to endure, adapt and expand.

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Broken shells of buildings, disfigured by bombs and bullets, give the impression the city itself is wounded.

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