San Francisco Police Department Records, 1870-1983, bulk 1888-1969

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Summary

Creators:
San Francisco (Calif.). Police Dept.
Abstract:
Records of the Board of Police Commissioners; the Office of the Chief of Police and subsidiary bureaus and units, including the Bureau of Identification, the Bureau of Inspectors (aka Detective Bureau), Photographs Bureau, and Patrol Bureau; and scrapbooks whose originating office or bureau is unknown. Many bureaus are not represented in the collection. Formats are mostly oversized record books, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.
Extent:
(165 vols., 8 cartons, 18 manuscript boxes, 30 shoeboxes, 18 flat boxes, 5 flat files) (88.7 linear feet)
Language:
Collection materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], San Francisco Police Department Records (SFH 61), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Background

Scope and content:

Records of the Board of Police Commissioners; the Office of the Chief of Police and subsidiary bureaus and units, including the Bureau of Identification, the Bureau of Inspectors (aka Detective Bureau), Photographs Bureau, and Patrol Bureau; and scrapbooks whose originating office or bureau is unknown. Many bureaus are not represented in the collection. Formats are mostly oversized record books, scrapbooks, and photographic materials.

Strengths of the collection include: Board of Commissioners minutes and correspondence; Bureau of Identification mug books; Bureau of Inspectors wanted circulars and crime clippings scrapbooks; and Photographs Bureau negatives of crime scenes and traffic accidents. Also notable is a partial series of scrapbooks kept by forensics and handwriting expert, Theodore Kytka.

There are smaller amounts of correspondence of the Chief of Police, police officer records, and license and permit applications. Significant events and topics include: the 1930s SFPD graft trials; vice; the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings and demonstrations of May 1960; civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s; and the San Francisco State University Strike of 1968-1969.

Biographical / historical:

The history of the SFPD predates by decades the scope of the surviving archive. According to secondary sources, there was a police force--of sorts--as early as 1849, coinciding with the population explosion from the Gold Rush. In 1856, the same year as the Consolidation of the City and County of San Francisco, the office of City Marshall was replaced by that of Police Chief. The 1850s also saw the introduction of military drill formation, uniforms, and the use of photography for criminal identification.

By the late 1870s, the period when this collection begins, the police force numbered 400--the "largest single police force in the West"--and in that year, the Chief became an appointed office rather than an elected one.

The 1880s and 1890s saw the introduction of the police patrol wagon and signal box system. In 1896, when James Phelan was elected Mayor, a new City Charter was passed, which gave the mayor the power to appoint members of the Police Commission.

During the 1906 earthquake and fire, police records were salvaged and kept in Portsmouth Square; this accounts for the surviving pre-1906 Board of Commissioners records, Bureau of Identification mug books, and miscellaneous other records.

Source: History of the San Francisco Police Department , [Prepared by the Planning and Research Bureau of the Department], 1972).

Custodial history:

The collection was received in several accessions. Fifty-nine volumes came to the San Francisco Public Library in 1972; these included the Kytka scrapbooks, some of the mug books and wanted circulars, most of the Police Commissioners directives, one of the Commissioners journals, a Commissioners letter book, one volume of Chief's directives, "foreign" and Oregon/Washington criminal photographs, and San Quentin mug books and prisoner indexes. There was another accession in 1975 from Richmond Station that included most of the license and permit ledgers. Additionally, in 1975, 250 glass plate negatives were aquired by the library. One mugbook from the 1940s was donated by an individual in 2003. Another individual donated the HUAC scrapbook in 2003.

The most recent accession was received in September 2014 from the SFPD Legal Department and consisted of most of the Patrol Bureau records in the collection, including district station logs, records of detail, and a signal box log; the General, Permanent, and Personnel Orders of the Office of the Chief of Police; and the Narcotics Detail case books.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in nine series: Series 1: Board of Police Commissioners; Series 2: Office of the Chief of Police; Series 3: Bureau of Inspectors; Series 4: Bureau of Identification; Series 5: Photographs Bureau; Series 6: Patrol Bureau / District Stations; Series 7: Bureau of Permits & Registration; Series 8: Clippings Scrapbooks of Unspecified Office or Bureau; and Series 9: Narcotics Detail Case Books. Most series are further divided into subseries by type of material.

Physical location:
Series 1 through 5 and Series 7 through 9 are stored onsite. Series 6 is stored offsite and should be requested 48 hours in advance.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Collections that are stored offsite should be requested 48 hours in advance. Some items are on permanent display at the San Francisco Police Department; some others are currently unavailable due to preservation issues. See notes under individual subseries for details.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], San Francisco Police Department Records (SFH 61), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Location of this collection:
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Contact:
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
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