City of Monrovia

HISTORY OF THE MONROVIA POLICE DEPARTMENT

COMPILED BY LT. JOHN MILLS (Ret.)

The City of Monrovia has come a long way in providing law enforcement protection for its citizens. It began as a result of an election in 1887 of City Marshal T. P. Herbert and has progressed to its current complement of 63-sworn officers and 22 civilian staff, commanded by a Chief of Police.

The first City Marshals were essentially one-man operations, occasionally augmented by a County Constable when needed.

The early Marshal's law enforcement duties were but a part of his responsibilities as a city official. He was also the City Water Works Superintendent. In the 1890's, the great land boom of the '80s ended in a serious depression and as resulting crime increased, the city added another full-time position, that of Night Watchman. The elected Marshal was paid $100 per month and his Night Watchman was paid $85 per month.

The Monrovia City Board of Trustees, on December 15, 1903, enacted Ordinance No. 177, which created the position of Special Police Officer. This ordinance was to become the genesis of the Monrovia Police Department as an organization, and led to the development of the department as it is today.

In the early years, the Police Department (Marshal's Office) was located in the old Granite Bank Building at the corner of Palm and Myrtle Avenues.

It was not until 1925 that a new station house was built specifically to house the Police Department, which numbered about nine officers at that time. The present facility was constructed in 1960.

Evidence that Monrovia had a jail of some type during the last century is found, not in local documents, but in a history of the City of Sierra Madre. It seems that a resident of that city was arrested for disorderly conduct sometime around 1890 ,and since Sierra Madre had no jail of its own, the prisoner was taken to the "Monrovia Jail." That night, however, the inmate set the Monrovia jail on fire and, unfortunately, killed himself.

The earliest documentary evidence of a jail in Monrovia is found in an invoice and other related papers dated March 4, 1904,from E.T. Barnum Iron Works, Detroit. These papers reveal the shipment of two "iron lattice jail cells with bunks and soil buckets and necessary hardware." The total cost of these cells, including shipping and freight, was less than $300.

On May 6, 1912, the Board of Trustees decided that all of the City's Police Officers must henceforth wear a distinctive uniform.

On May 27, 1918, the Board of Trustees appointed what was to become the City's first woman Police Officer, Zella L. Vining, Deputy City Marshal. However, not being career oriented, she resigned two weeks later on June 17, 1918.

In the history of the Police Department, the records reveal that two of its officers were killed while on duty. Both deaths were the result of traffic accidents.

The first accident took the life of an on-duty officer when his police car was struck by a Santa Fe railroad train as it crossed the street at Myrtle Avenue on October 5, 1928.

The second was a motorcycle accident in which an on-duty officer was killed when his motorcycle went down in front of the old Lyric Theatre on December 16, 1938.

Certainly one of the oldest members of the department was Sergeant R. C. "Clint" Seem. The personnel records of the time are brief, but reveal that Sergeant Seem entered police service at age 42 on January 2, 1907. The final entry on the record reads, "Dismissed 12-1-43" - at age 78.

The period of the mid-1920s was an important transition for the Monrovia Police Department. It was on April 7, 1925, that the first Police Station was opened on East Lime Avenue. Newspaper accounts headlined the event and described in detail, the "finest and most conveniently arranged police station in Southern California. Chief Ernest Bovee (City Marshal) conducted a tour for newsmen and showed off the new quarters."

At that time, Marshal Bovee was also the City Tax Collector and records and tax payments were kept and made at the Police Station.

The building boasted a men's jail and, separate women's jail, a very significant sign of progress, as heretofore, all women prisoners were held in custody at the home of City Matron Mrs. J. B. Woodland until taken downtown to Los Angeles County Jail.

The mid '20s also brought with it a more pseudo-military organization. The Department's first appointed Chief of Police was Frank L. Scott, who served as such until May 11, 1949. Chief Scott came to the department as a relief patrolman on July 4, 1913, and moved through the ranks until his appointment as Chief on May 3, 1926. These were truly formative years for the department as Chief Scott's legacy to his successor, Grant Peterson, was an organization that survives essentially intact to this time.

A review of the history of the Monrovia Police Department would not be complete without mention of a peace officer who served with distinction during the early years of this century. Pioneer Monrovia Peace Officer Constable James Quiggle served 29 years beginning 1906 until his retirement in 1935.

Appointed Deputy Constable in 1906, he also served as a night watchman for Monrovia merchants. In 1910, he was appointed Constable for Monrovia Township. He was elected City Marshal in 1914 and served until July 1, 1915, when he returned to his job as County Constable. In August, 1925, the Monrovia Board of Trustees drafted Quiggle to serve as Acting Chief of Police until a successor could be appointed. He continued as Marshal until May, 1926, when the Trustees named Frank L. Scott, Police Captain under Marshal Quiggle, as the first Chief of Police of Monrovia.

Constable James Quiggle passed away on May 8, 1955.

Through the Great Depression and the war years (1930s and 1940s) the department, under the continuing leadership of Chief Frank Scott, grew in personnel and equipment. Chief Grant Peterson, the second to attain the title of Chief of Police, guided the department during the 1950s and the divisional organization structure - patrol, services and detectives - became more clearly defined.

Chief Ray Blair assumed command in 1958. One of Chief Blair's first orders of business resulted in the decision that the police station, built in 1925, was totally inadequate. A new facility, planned and built during 1960-61, still serves as the Monrovia police facility building at 140 East Lime Avenue, on the site of the original structure.

Upon Chief Blair's retirement in 1971, the department functioned under Chief Ray Ellis. Chief Ellis, as his predecessors before him, came through the ranks and led the department from 1971 through 1979. They were years of progress with rapidly changing techniques and procedures in law enforcement.

In 1979, Bill Tubbs was appointed Chief of Police and served as such to October 1989. Under the guidance of Chief Tubbs, the department explored and adopted new and innovative techniques. He was a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, as were Chief Blair and Ellis.

In 1989 Joseph Santoro, a Captain from the Monterey Park Police Department, was appointed as Chief of Police for the City of Monrovia.

The original structure designed by Chief Blair 20 years previously underwent a major remodeling in 1982, and did so again in 1994, creating a more efficient facility used 24-hours a day by more employees. A new, modern communications center utilizing computer aided dispatch and a computerized records management system.

Roger Johnson was appointed as the new Chief in September of 2002 after Chief Santoro retired. Chief Johnson has worked his way through the department. His first position was as a police dispatcher at the age of 18.

The Police Department continues today to faithfully serve the citizens of Monrovia. Beginning with City Marshal Herbert in 1887 and his Night Watchman, and spanning the years to Chief Johnson and 63 of Monrovia's Finest, we have entered our second century of service to the citizens of Monrovia.