Edward Kern (1860–1912) was a politician and police chief from

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, California. He also served in the war against

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...

Early life

Kern was born on a farm in

Norwalk, Iowa Norwalk is a city in Warren County, with some small portions extending into Polk County, in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 12,799 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area and is located jus ...

, in 1860. At age 19 he went to Colorado, where he was a

teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

. He moved through New Mexico to Arizona, where he did railroad construction work. Later, in

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, he was chief of supplies, or "forage master," under General George R. Crook in the Army's campaign against the Indian leader Geronimo. When

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

took over from Crook in 1886, the new commander placed Kern in charge of the

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

. Kern came to Los Angeles along with Miles the same year, and Kern was

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there. He then became a driver for the Los Angeles Ice and Cold Storage Company, rising to the position of a superintendent. He was also a

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in the company. In 1906 Kern was described at age 46 as being "a great, broad-shouldered giant, with a grip like a steel vise."

Municipal service

City Council

In December 1902 Kern was elected to the Los Angeles City Council to represent the 7th

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. He was reelected in 1904, but resigned on November 26, 1906, after he was appointed as police chief.

Police chief

The police board unanimously reappointed him as chief on January 8, 1907. In 1908 he was reappointed as a director of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and announced that Los Angeles would be the site of the group's next convention. In a lengthy statement published in the '' Los Angeles Herald,'' Kern stressed that "The proposition of handling the

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speakers who are contending with the authorities for the right of what they call

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

has not reached the dignity of a problem in my mind." He said that the demonstrators "are not criminals or lawbreakers . . . . In every way except one they are peaceable, law-abiding men and women. They persist in breaking the one ordinance on the city books which prohibits them from speaking on the streets without a permit from the police commission." He stressed that the police would enforce the law. In 1909 Kern, then retired, was a defense

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in a criminal case against Police Captain Thomas A. Broadhead, who was charged with accepting a bribe for protecting the red-light district in Los Angeles during the time that Kern was police chief. Under direct examination, after testifying about his life background and history, he answered most other questions by

defense counsel In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat ...

in a negative way, such as "I did not," "He did not" and "He never did." Under questioning by the prosecution, though, Kern was asked if he had told City Attorney Thomas L. Woolwine that "you would not close" the houses of prostitution because "it would scatter them all over the city." Kern responded, "I don't recall it in those words." Broadhead was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

Board of Public Works

In January 1909 Kern resigned as police chief and was appointed by Mayor Arthur Harper to the Board of Public Works. His stint in office, however, lasted only two months because, in the wake of complaints that he was unqualified, he unexpectedly quit his new job in March. His appointment had been met with such disfavor that it was one of the reasons for a successful recall petition drive that eventually led to Mayor Harper's resignation.

Illness and death

In October 1911, Kern, then living in

Ocean Park, California The western border of Santa Monica, California, is the 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Santa Monica Bay. On its other sides, the city is bordered by various districts of Los Angeles: the northwestern border is Pacific Palisades, the eastern border ...

, "was given to periodical drunken sprees" and, after examination by a medical committee, he was admitted voluntarily to the State Hospital for Inebriates in Patton, California, on the advice of his physician, Dr. Sumner J. Quint, who was made his legal guardian. The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that as he was packing for his trip "Kern yesterday presented a pitiful spectacle. , , , His face was unshaven, haggard and drawn." The next year, Kern, who had been ill "for months," went to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, on business, and soon his body was found by a chambermaid on April 20, 1912, in a hotel room bathtub with a bullet through the head. There was no message, but a revolver that friends had given him in Los Angeles lay beside the body. A funeral service was conducted on April 27, 1912, by the

Fraternal Order of Eagles Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater owners including John Cort (the first president), brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harr ...

in their lodge at 320 South Main Street, Los Angeles. Hundreds attended, many of them weeping, and the

bier A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York, ...

was guarded by policemen and firemen. The

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was given by close friend

Earl Rogers Earl Rogers (November 18, 1869 – February 22, 1922) was an American trial lawyer and professor, who later became the inspiration for Perry Mason. Life Earl Rogers was born in Perry, New York on November 18, 1869, the son of Methodist ministe ...

, "who touched upon the sweet, kindly and whole-souled character of Kern." He was survived by his wife.

References

External links

Los Angeles Police Department page for Edward Kern, with a photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Edward 1860 births 1912 deaths Los Angeles City Council members Chiefs of the Los Angeles Police Department American military personnel of the Indian Wars American politicians who committed suicide Suicides by firearm in Texas 19th-century American politicians 1912 suicides