Peter J. Pitchess
| Peter J. Pitchess | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 26, 1912 Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Died | April 4, 1999 (aged 87) Newport Beach, California |
| Resting place | Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona del Mar, California 33°36′36″N 117°51′14″W / 33.610068°N 117.853822°W |
| Police career | |
| Department |
Federal Bureau of Investigation Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department |
| Years of service | 1953 – 1982 |
| Rank | 1953: Appointed as Under-Sheriff; 1958: elected Sheriff |
Peter J. Pitchess (February 26, 1912 – April 4, 1999) was the 28th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California, serving from 1958 to 1981. He is credited with modernizing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, turning the department into the sixth-largest police department, and the largest sheriff's department, in the United States.
Pitchess was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was orphaned as a child, and attended Bingham High School in Bingham, Utah. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah, and his Juris Doctor degree from the university's law school, earning his law school tuition by working in the mines in Bingham, Utah.
He started his career as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation spending 12 years with that agency, in Washington, D.C.; El Paso, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Los Angeles. He rose to head the criminal investigative section of the Bureau's Los Angeles field office, resigning in 1952. He spent a year in the private sector, taking a position as chief of security for the Richfield Oil Company, before becoming Under-Sheriff reporting to sheriff Eugene Biscailuz. He was elected Sheriff in 1958 upon Biscailuz's retirement.
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