Tuesday, December 16, 2025

County Marks Sheriff’s Department’s 175th Anniversary

Altadena Sheriff’s Station personnel on Aug. 15, 1927. Among those in this photo is: Sheriff Traeger, standing fourth from right: future Sheriff Eugene W. Biscailuz, seated second in the second row from the left: Altadena’s first Captain Vincent Monteleone, kneeling in the front row on the left; and former Sheriff Martin Agulerre, kneeling in the center of the front row with man’s hand on his shoulder. [Courtesy Robert Ross/Facebook]

Altadena has been under the Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction since the town’s first station opened 1927

Supervisor Kathryn Barger will honor the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department today with a commemorative scroll marking the department’s 175th anniversary, recognizing nearly a century of service to the County and to Altadena through its local station.

The presentation is scheduled during the Board of Supervisors’ public hearing at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles.

The Sheriff’s Department Band will perform at 9 a.m., followed by the scroll presentation at 9:30 a.m. with remarks from Barger and Sheriff Robert G. Luna, according to county event details. Captains from Fifth District stations, including Altadena, are expected to attend.

Founded in 1850, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the nation’s largest sheriff’s agency, serving 42 incorporated cities and 141 unincorporated communities. Altadena has been under its jurisdiction since 1927, when Station No. 7 opened on East Foothill Boulevard. The station later moved to Lake Avenue and Mariposa Street before relocating in 1948 to its current site at the Altadena Civic Center.

The Altadena Sheriff’s Station was an early adopter of technology, linking by teletype to county and state agencies in 1928, receiving one-way radio patrol cars in 1933, and testing portable two-way radios in 1936 before full two-way equipment arrived in 1938. The station received its first black-and-white patrol cars in 1957. After a merger in 1987 reduced Altadena to a substation, full-service status was restored in 1999. The station became fully independent again in 2001. Captain Ethan Marquez was appointed commander in August 2025.

Today, the Sheriff’s Department commands about 17,000 sworn and professional staff, overseeing patrol services across 3,157 square miles and managing approximately 18,000 inmates daily in the nation’s largest county jail system.

Its legacy in Altadena remains central to the community’s public safety history, with nearly 100 years of continuous service through the local station.