Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-12
POLICE BOARD BY
UNANIMOUS VOTE
DISMISSES DIXON
Topham Declares Men on Purity
Squad Caused Him to
Lose Faith
LEHNHAUSEN is TRANSFERRED
Resolution of Removal Does Not
Expressly Find the Dis
charged Man Guilty
LEHNHAUSEN is TRANSFERRED

Charles %. Dixon, captain of the
central police station, against whom
charges of conduct unbecoming an Of
ficer and gentleman were preferred
on June 8, and who has been under
suspension since July /. who through
five inluisitorial sessions of the police
commission was subjected to investi-
cation regarding charges of protecting
gambling and houses of i'll repute, was
dismissed from the department last
night on the motion of Commissioner
John Topham, seconded by Commits
sioner Davidson and concurred in by
the other commissioners and the
mayor.
Captain C. H. Lehnhausen of the
east side station will succeed Dixon
in charge of central station.
Dixon did not display the slightest
concern when the verdict was given,
but quietly left the council chamber
wherein the commission met.
WHAT DIXON SAYS
Captain Dixon made the following
statement:
~ consider that my dismissal was
unjust. From the first / was told by
lots of people that I was slated for
dismissal that tho whole affair was
merely a piece of political jobbery.
refused to believe this, for 1 could not
conceive that a Good Government ad-
ministration would dismiss a man ex-
cept for good and sufficient cause.
'"rhey did not substantiate q single
one of the charges brought against me,
thus proving that the rumors that the
charges were jobbery on the part of
political enemies had weight.
zone of the causes of my dismissal
was the opposition of Chief Galloway.
h6xF hnf n nm 1Ozar a1x.a,-
of the department / am free to say
that the chief is entirely incompetent.
Within a week after l was returned
to the central division after coaching
the chief in his duties l was told that
he was after my scalp. These rumors
developed into reality"
TOPfIAM,s STATEMENT
"I stood with Dixon as long as
could" said Commissioner John Top
ham after the session of last night,
but when I saw the class of men he
had gathered around him on the so
called purity squad I began to lose
faith in him. 1t is for the best interests
of the department that Captain Dixon
be dismissed"
Mayor Alexander and the other MEM
bers of the commission would not dis
cuss the dismissal of Dixon, merely
offering their vote as an evidence of
now InSy IoiL III Ln0 matter
immediately after the reading of the
minutes of the last meeting of the
commission Charles r. McKeag, secre-
tary, called the case of Captain Dixon
to the notice Of the body, suggesting
that decision was yet to be rendered.
II introduce this resolution" said
Commissioner Topham, handing type
written slip to the secretary.
Read it," said Mayor Alexander.
RnSnlUad That
publicly investigated the written
charges preferred by one Gage
against an officer of the police force
of the city of Los Angeles, to wit,
Captain Charles e. Dixon, and after
said Dixon has been afforded an op-
portunity to be, and has been, pub
licly heard in his own defense, both
personally and by attorney; now,
after such investigation, namely,
the board of police commissioners of
the city of Los Angeles, hereby finds
that sufficient cause has been
shown therefor. and, accordingly,
does hereby order that said officer.
Captain Charles E. Dixon, be, and
he hereby is, removed from his
position as a member of the police
force of said city; and he is hereby
discharged from said police force.
The resolution was unanimously
adopted.
DIXON DEPARTS
Dixon, who sat close to the police
commission, did not betray his feel
ings, but reached over to speak to Paul
Blair, a private detective, who accom-
panied him. Shortly afterward they
left the city hall.
Chief of Police Galloway had no com
ment to make on the decision of the
commission. He stated that Captain
n TT ahr ~ ha CT eli do 20
ton would take Dixon's place. his
transfer to become effective on the fif-
teenth of the month.
The original charge against Dixon
was brought by William d. Gage, keep
er of the Hampshire hotel, who accused
the police captain of having applied
opprobrious epithets to him. During
the course of the hearing of the Gage
charges hints were made that Dixon
was active in protecting certain disor-
derly houses and of having tipped off a
proposed police raid of a gambling lay
out in the San Fernando building, so
that when the police arrived, prepared
to raid the place, the gamblers had de-
camped.
LONG SESSIONS
Mayor Alexander asserted during the
investigation that any and all charges
against Dixon would be thoroughly
sifted. Three sessions, TWO or Wnlcn
lasted all day, were necessary to pre-
sent all the evidence outside of the
Gage charges, the last session, held
July 6, running far into the night.
Throughout the investigation the
name of Blanche Ryan, woman of the
underworld, to whom Dixon was al
legged by some to have extended police
protection in running a disorderly
house. came up necessarily. At the last
taking of testimony Clara Vernon, for
merly the keeper of a house in which
the Ryan woman lived, testified that
Dixon's visits to Blanche Ryan were
frequent, and that during these visits
the police captain and the woman were
closeted together
After testimony had been introduced
that Dixon had accepted a Christmas
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