(CNN) -- After scathing criticism from the son of slain Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, police in Los Angeles, California, have apologized for including the clothes the senator was wearing when killed in an exhibit of high-profile homicide cases.



The clothing -- a shirt, tie and jacket, with what appears to be bloodstains on the shirt -- was removed from the exhibit, "Behind-The-Scenes: The LAPD Homicide Experience," at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.



In addition, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and Police Chief Charlie Beck, in an open letter Thursday, apologized to any other victims' family members who might have been offended by the other items in the exhibit, running Tuesday through Thursday at the California Homicide Investigators Association's 2010 conference.



"Based on the feedback we have received, it is now clear that a few of the items on display have offended some crime victims' families," the letter said. "We have both been to hundreds of murder scenes in our law enforcement career and we have consoled many family members. It was never our intent to cause grief to victims of crime or their families."



In a statement issued last month, the LAPD had billed the exhibit as "a glimpse into some of the most notable homicides and critical incidents that occurred in Los Angeles over the past 100 years."



"It's about the history of Los Angeles, as told through the eyes of homicide investigators of the Los Angeles Police Department," Beck said Tuesday on CNN's "Larry King Live."



"This is an opportunity for homicide investigators from all over the country to get together, to share ideas, to share best practices and to talk about some of the most famous cases in Los Angeles history, as well as their current cases."



But in an opinion piece in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times newspaper, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, son of the late senator, called the display of his father's clothing "a cheap bid for attention."



"The chief of police and the district attorney took my father's blood-soaked clothing and displayed it, as part of a macabre publicity stunt," he wrote. "It is almost incomprehensible to imagine what circumstances would have led to a decision to transport these items across state lines to be gawked at by gamblers and tourists. It is demeaning to my family, but just as important, it is demeaning to the trust that citizens place in their law enforcement officers."



The exhibit also features evidence associated with the death of Marilyn Monroe, the 1963 "onion field" case in which LAPD Officer Ian Campbell was slain, the O.J. Simpson and Charles Manson cases, and the so-called "Black Dahlia" murder, according to the LAPD statement announcing it.



Family members of some victims in those cases told "Larry King Live" the LAPD should have notified them about the exhibit.



"From my perspective, it's very disturbing," said Debra Tate, sister of actress Sharon Tate, slain along with six others in 1969 by the Manson family killers. "Number 1, I didn't get any notice that this was going to occur. But these are very personal artifacts to me. These are things that bring back horrible memories, not only for myself, but other Manson family victims."



The items include ropes used in the murders of Tate and others, and a fork used to stab one of the victims, said retired LAPD Sgt. Glynn Martin, the curator of the exhibit.



"We certainly try to concern ourselves with the thoughts and concerns of victims, and certainly our hearts go out to them," Martin told King. "... Likewise, we have an obligation, both as a museum and then the bigger one as the police department, to train, educate and inform officers and the public about people that do this particular job of investigating people that have lost their lives."



Debra Tate said she can see the educational value, and might consider seeing the exhibit, but "I think a little bit of notice
What does exhibit include? Where will the items be exhibited? what did Kennedy call the display? What did LAPD do? Who apologised? Who called the exhibit macabre? what was removed from the exhibit? Who has apologized to the Kennedy family?
evidence associated with the death of Marilyn Monroe, the 1963 "onion field" case at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. "a cheap bid for attention." apologized for including the clothes the senator was wearing when killed in an exhibit of high-profile homicide cases. police in Los Angeles, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, a shirt, tie and jacket, with California,
question: What does exhibit include?, answer: evidence associated with the death of Marilyn Monroe, the 1963 "onion field" case | question: Where will the items be exhibited?, answer: at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. | question: what did Kennedy call the display?, answer: "a cheap bid for attention." | question: What did LAPD do?, answer: apologized for including the clothes the senator was wearing when killed in an exhibit of high-profile homicide cases. | question: Who apologised?, answer: police in Los Angeles, | question: Who called the exhibit macabre?, answer: Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, | question: what was removed from the exhibit?, answer: a shirt, tie and jacket, with | question: Who has apologized to the Kennedy family?, answer: California,