August Vollmer Biography

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Who is August Vollmer

August Vollmer was a police chief in Berkeley, California, from 1909 to 1932. He had a remarkable impact on the direction of American policing. He served as an elected town Marshal of Berkeley from 1905 until 1909. The Police Department developed many innovations during its tenure, such as using science to detect crime, police radio, record keeping, and polygraph. The most important was Vollmer’s influence on a generation of police stakeholders who began their careers under his mentorship. The image of professional policing, as we see it today, is his contribution ( Dinkelspiel, 2010).

He played a central role in organizing his police department by creating a code of Ethics and fighting rampant corruption. He demanded a high level of integrity, efficiency, and hard work from his officers. In 1908, Vollmer initiated formal training in his police department. He also encouraged his officers to attend classes in police administration. Vollmer served as the President of the Police Chiefs’ Association and was a police consultant for other cities. His only education after school was a course in shorthand typing.

Vollmer considered the control of crime as the primary role of law enforcement and could be achieved by giving them better training skills and techniques to prevail over criminals. He was known for his honesty, devotion to duty and courage. He did not support capital punishment and could visit the jail in the morning to see how the prisoners were treated. He stood against brutality and violence against prisoners and ordered his officers to treat suspects with dignity during interrogations.

A large number of Vollmer's protégés and students became professionals in the policing field. In 1924, he took a leave of absence to commit to transforming the Los Angeles Police Department, where he established police hiring standards and set up a crime lab and a crime prevention unit dedicated to juvenile delinquency-related issues. In the late 1940s, Vollmer had 25 police chiefs serving him in different parts of the country (Bozzo, 2011).

August Vollmer Career

It is important to mention that crime was on the rise at the time of Vollmer’s appointment. The police department was a shell. Officers were known more for their corruption and brutality than for their duty to the public. Vollmer banned corruption and gifts to police officers. He instituted reforms that transformed law enforcement into a modern profession.

In 1932 Vollmer retired from the Berkeley Police Department but continued to teach at the university in 1937. Later, he established the American Society of Criminology and became its first president in 1941. He committed suicide at the age of 75; on November 4, 1955. Vollmer donated his body to the University of California, while the Police Department benefited from his written works.

He had a stellar career in Law Enforcement, is worth celebrating, and remains a legend for the far-reaching reforms and practices used today. This is the level of discipline and work ethics of most if not all, civil and public servants and must leave a lasting impact on future generations.

A blend of hard work, due diligence, passion for alleviating standards from the status quo, and consideration and responsiveness to the public's needs can achieve a long-lasting impact. Even in the end, he chose to end his life because of cancer. Vollmer donated his body to science to advance the criminal justice system.