1940-1949: Police and crime

Leslie Simmons

The decade of the 1940s was a time of war for the world and a period

of change for the Glendale Police Department.

The reality of World War II came to the department when 24 of its

officers were called to duty.

During that time, many women in the city demanded the department give

them firearms training so they could defend themselves in case of an

invasion.

The department still had its share of corruption scandals during the

decade.

In 1944, then-City Manager Edwin Ingham requested that Police Chief

V.B. Brown resign after members of the department alleged other officers

were accepting bribes from bookmakers to overlook their gambling

operations.

Though the allegations were never proved, Ingham wanted Browne to step

down because he “was unable to control the department and that the

inharmonious conditions within the ranks of the department had resulted

in inefficient operation of the police force.”

Browne didn’t exactly leave the department - he requested to be a

patrol officer, which the city approved. He walked a beat until his

retirement in 1948.

The next chief, Vernon Rasmussen, was selected by the City Council.

Rasmussen had been a captain in the LAPD and was chief of detectives at

the Wilshire Division station when he was appointed.

He remained chief until 1948 when he left to be a staff member for

Gov. Earl Warren’s vice presidential campaign.

Carl Eggers was appointed to replace Rasmussen in February 1949 and

remained chief of police until 1968.

In 1945, longtime Police Court Judge Frank Lowe retired. His

successor, Judge Charles Dyer, was profiled in a 1945 News-Press article.

The story indicated that people who pleaded guilty to traffic

violations often left Dyer’s courtroom smiling.

A number of violations Dyer saw in his court were cases in which

juveniles had special mufflers on their cars. The judge appeared somewhat

sympathetic.

“You fellows who insist on buying those twin pipes are just throwing

your money away because they’re against the law,” he was quoted as saying

in a 1945 Glendale News-Press article. “I don’t make the laws, you know,

I just enforce them. Do you have a certificate to show that your car now

has a legal muffler? All right, case dismissed.”

The 1940s was also time when the relationship between the Police

Department and the press grew. Often, press photographers took pictures

of crime scenes for the department and the job of a reporter, in some

cases, crossed over into reserve officer work.

1940s TIMELINE

1944: Officers are accused by other members of the Police Department

of taking bribes

1944: Chief V.B. Browne is asked to resign by City Manager Edwin

Ingham. Vernon Rasmussen replaces Brown.

1945: Police Court Judge Frank H. Lowe retires. Judge Charles Dyer

takes his place.

1945: Two brothers are arrested for killing a homeowner during a

burglary. One of the boys, 11, was at the time the youngest suspect ever

charges as an accessory to murder in the state.

1946: A former department radio technician, Erwin Walker, shoots to

death a former Glendale police officer, Lorne C. Roosevelt, on a highway.

Walker is executed in San Quentin later that year.

1947: The Glendale Police Department unveils its first uniform patch.

1948: Rasmussen leaves the department to help with Gov. Earl Warren’s

vice-presidential campaign.

1948: A makeshift police firing range is built in Scholl Canyon Park.

It is later dismantled after neighbors complained.

1949: Carl Eggers is appointed chief of police. He retires in 1968.