The Los Angeles City Marshal was the chief law enforcement officer of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in the city's early years.
The City Marshal was an office created in 1850 upon the city's incorporation. The title was City Marshal, Tax and Licence Collector. The title of Chief of Police was added in 1871. In 1876 the position of City Marshal was eliminated.
Jacob F. Gerkens as the first officer to hold the new title of
Chief of Police
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
.
J.J. Carrillo continued as Tax and Licence Collector in 1876 - 1877.
The second City Marshal, Jack Whaling, was shot in 1853. This led to the creation of the "
Los Angeles Rangers
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
", a volunteer force who assisted the City Marshal and
County Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
. At this time, law enforcement was limited and the Marshal had use of but one small county
jail
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
.
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In 1869, William C. Warren was appointed as City Marshal and was given command over a force of six officers. He was responsible for being the city's dog catcher and collecting taxes. He was paid 2.5% of all tax monies he collected (in 1875 it totaled to $115 per month).
Notes
* Beard was removed from office.
* Getman was killed in 1858 after being elected as sheriff of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
.
* Warren was shot and killed in 1870 by one of his deputies, Joseph Franklin Dye.
Bibliography
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References
{{Reflist
Government of Los Angeles
History of Los Angeles