One of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department "Night Squads," 1925. These detective units responded to early morning major crimes and follow-up during the 1920s. Photo from Shotgun World.
| 1850 | The first Sheriff of Los Angeles County, George T. Burrill is elected and takes office. He has two deputies to assist him. |
| 1857 | Three weeks into his second elected term, Sheriff James Barton and a number of his posse are ambushed and murdered while pursuing a band of robbers. |
| 1858 | Only seven days in office, Sheriff William C. Getman is killed while attempting to arrest a "maniac." |
| 1871 | Sheriff James F. Burns desperately attempts to restore order when a mob, enraged by the death of a local constable, begins assaulting and, in some cases, killing Chinese men and boys. The Sheriff acts because City of Los Angeles law enforcement officers fail to do so. |
| 1907 | The LASD purchases its first automobile. |
| 1912 | Mrs. Margaret Queen Adams becomes the first woman in the United States to serve as a Deputy Sheriff. |
| 1912 | Deputies begin night duty. |
| 1915 | The Bureau of Identification and the fingerprint system is established. |
| 1921 | The first Sheriff's detention "Honor Camp" replaces the "Chain-Gang" system. The Record Bureau and Homicide Detail is established. |
| 1924 | The first Sheriff's substations open (Florence Station, later Firestone Park Station and East Los Angeles Station). |
| 1926 | The Hall of Justice jail opens. Vermont Station (later Lennox), Norwalk, Temple City, and Newhall Stations open. |
| 1927 | Altadena and San Dimas Stations open. |
| 1928 | Deputies begin wearing uniforms. Prior to this, deputies wore civilian clothes. The Crime Laboratory and County-wide teletype system are introduced. Fairfax Station (later West Hollywood) opens. |
| 1931 | The Aero Squadron is created. |
| 1932 | The Sheriff begins to use marked patrol cars. |
| 1933 | The Sheriff's Reserves are first introduced. |
| 1935 | The Sheriff's Academy opens. |
| 1937 | Sheriff's units begin using two-way radio. Montrose and Lancaster Stations open (later Crescenta Valley and Antelope Valley Stations). |
| 1938 | Wayside Honor Rancho opens. |
| 1959 | Lakewood Station opens to provide the first contract services for law enforcement to a municipality in the United States. |
| 1963 | Men’s Central Jail opens. Catalina Island gives up private police services to contract with the Sheriff's Department. Sybil Brand Institute for Women opens. |
| 1964 | City of Industry Station opens. |
| 1972 | Santa Clarita Valley Station replaces the old Newhall Station. The Automated Index System is established to allow instant access to criminal records and fingerprints from other justice agencies. |
| 1973 | The Communications Center begins operations with high-speed dispatch facilities. |
| 1974 | Carson Station opens. Crescenta Valley Station opens to replace the old Montrose Station. |
| 1975 | Lomita Station opens. |
| 1977 | Lynwood Station opens when the city contracts for police services. |
| 1981 | The first full-time female law enforcement helicopter pilot in the nation takes to the air for the Sheriff's Department. |
| 1983 | Marina Del Rey Station opens. |
| 1984 | S.T.A.R.S. Center in Whittier is dedicated. |
| 1985 | Avalon Station is opened. |
| 1987 | Walnut Station opens. |
| 1988 | Gang Enforcement Teams (GET) are formed and deployed. Undercover investigations into corruption in the Sheriff's Department begin in Operation Big Spender. The corruption involved the theft of drugs, drug money, money laundering, and other illegal activities. Nineteen deputies are ultimately convicted. The county settles a lawsuit by Deputy Susan Bouman for sex discrimination by the Sheriff's Department. The Department comes under court supervision under the Bouman consent decree. |
| 1989 | The Sheriff's Museum is dedicated. |
| 1990 | North County Correctional Center is dedicated by President George Bush and Sheriff Sherman Block. |
| 1991 | Lost Hills Station opens. The Mobile Digital Communication System is established. |
| 1992 | Palmdale Station opens. |
| 1993 | The Universal City Substation opens and Hall of Justice Jail, Biscailuz Center, and Mira Loma Jail Facility closes. The Sheriff's Headquarters move to Monterey Park. Amended for a third time, the Bouman consent decree mandates that the Sheriff's Department spend $4.5 million to develop revised sexual-harassment policies, provide resources to assist women to earn promotions, establish an ombudsperson, and implement gender-diversity training. |
| 1994 | The County Marshal's Department merges with the Sheriff's Department. Lynwood Regional Justice Center opens. |
| 1995 | Twin Towers Correctional Facility is completed but it cannot be opened due to a lack of funding. |
| 1996 | Lancaster Station opens. |
| 1997 | After two years, Twin Towers Correctional Facility finally opens. Pico Rivera Station is restored to full service. Mira Loma Detention Center re-opens to house Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detainees. |
| 2000 | Compton Station opens. The Compton City Council earlier voted to disband the Compton Police Department and contract with the Sheriff's Department. |
| 2002 | In a budget showdown with the County Board of Supervisors, Lynwood Regional Justice Center Jail Facility and the Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team (CCAT) lose funding and are shut down. As part of an effort to come into full compliance with the Bouman consent decree (see 1988 and 1993), the Sheriff's Department begins training personnel in policies that will enforce a "Respect-Based" work environment. |
| 2003 | The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) decides to switch the contract for police services on bus and light rail routes within the City of Los Angeles from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to the Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department was already responsible for policing all routes outside Los Angeles. |
| 2005 | Construction begins on the new Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles. |
| 2006 | The Sheriff's Department joins with Federal agencies and the Los Angeles Police Department to open the Joint Regional Intelligence Center to coordinate tracking and dissemination of counter-terrorism information amongst federal and local agencies. |
| 2009 | The County Board of Supervisors vote to eliminate the Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety and reassign responsibilities of the former agency to the Sheriff’s Department. |
| 2014 | Facing mounting evidence of high-level attempts within the Sheriff's Department to interfere with a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation of civil rights abuses in the county jail, Sheriff Lee Baca retires from office before his unexpired term. |
| 2016 | Former Undersheriff Tanaka is convicted by a Federal jury of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Tanaka was found guilty of coordinating attempts to derail the earlier FBI investigation of civil rights abuses in the county jail. He is sentenced to five years in prison. Later, former Sheriff Lee Baca pleads guilty to a single count of lying to federal investigators, but later withdraws his plea. He then receives a Federal indictment on charges of false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. His first trials ends up as a mistrial. |
| 2017 | A second Federal trial against former Sheriff Lee Baca ends with a conviction. Baca is sentenced to three years in prison. |
Source: History Behind the Badge