Chief John Stroh. Undated photo circa late 1930s. (Credit: Torrance Police Department)
When John Stroh joined the Torrance Police Department as a patrolman on Sept. 5, 1924, there were six other members on the force.
The department was created which had been created on May 23, 1921, eleven days after the city’s official incorporation. (It was founded in 1912.) On that day, Ben Olsen began work as city marshal. As the force’s only member, he was also the chief of police.
Weeks later, a night watchman was hired, followed in 1923 by a couple of motorcycle officers and more patrolmen. Originally, the department shared a building with city hall and the fire department at 1521 Cravens Ave., but became its sole occupant when the other two operations moved to a newer building next door in 1926.
John H. Stroh was born on May 4, 1895, in Trenton, Nebraska, along with his twin brother, Jake. The family later moved to Loveland, Colorado, where Stroh spent his childhood.
Originally, the police and fire departments shared the first floor of this building built in 1923 at 1521 Cravens Ave., with city hall occupying the top floor. (Credit: Torrance Police Department)
In January 1924, Stroh came west and settled in Torrance, where he first landed a job with the Torrance Street Department laying asphalt and then worked briefly in the Pacific Electric maintenance shop before taking the job as a police officer.
Torrance thrived during the Twenties, and Stroh was kept busy with the growing town’s daily problems. By 1929, the force had grown to eleven members, and was kept busy enforcing Prohibition laws against bootleggers, among its other duties. By 1932, Stroh had been promoted to sergeant.
The Torrance Police Department has grown to 11 members in this 1929 photo. The man in the white hat, center, is then-Chief Jerry Calder. His successor, John Stroh, is to the immediate left of him. (Credit: Daily Breeze file photo)
He and his wife Molly lived on Watson Ave. in Torrance, just east of Torrance High School. They had two children, daughter Lucille, and son Jay, both of whom would go on to their own law enforcement careers.
The police department grew to fifteen members by 1938, a pivotal year in Stroh’s career.
John Stroh in 1938. (Credit: Torrance Historical Newspaper and Directories Archive database, Torrance Public Library)
That June, the veteran officer was named Director of Public Safety, which became a permanent position as of Jan. 1, 1939. This gave Stroh administrative responsibility not only for the police department, but also the fire department.
When Stroh fired fire captain A.D. Stevenson in late 1938, chaos ensued. Stevenson was suspended on Oct. 30 after getting a fight with another firefighter, and was discharged officially by the civil service commission for that and other charges.
A legal battle royale ensued in 1939, with suits and countersuits flying. Stevenson charged that Stroh, though held the “Director” title, didn’t have the authority to have him removed.
Stroh prevailed, but the city backed away from its scheme to have one director for both departments in late 1939. It retained Stroh as chief of police, but he no longer had jurisdiction over the fire department.
He was given the rank of captain, and his salary was set at $230 a week.
The remainder of Stroh’s tenure was less stressful and contentious. The department had a lot on its plate with the outbreak of World War II giving it more of a role in local civil defense. This included such activities as enforcing dimout rules, to keep drivers and business owners from displaying bright lights during the wartime nights for security reasons.
An earthquake that caused considerable damage on Nov. 14, 1941, brought thousands of spectators to gawk at the damaged buildings, presenting a challenge to the small department to keep order.
During the 1940s, Stroh worked hard to modernize the department. He streamlined arrest records information, installed more modern photographic equipment, reorganized officer scheduling, established a police reserve and instituted other behind-the-scenes improvements.
Chief Stroh gathers evidence in a burglary case. Torrance Herald, Aug. 8, 1940, Page 1. (Credit: Torrance Historical Newspaper and Directories Archive database, Torrance Public Library)
This while dealing with a range of problems in the growing city, from managing parking difficulties downtown, to breaking up cockfighting rings and three-card monte operations, to making sure that Halloween pranksters and local hot-rodders were kept in check.
Oh, and his enforcement area also included Torrance Beach, where he was charged with keeping libidinous youths in check, at least according to this eye-catching Torrance Herald headline:
Torrance Herald headline, Aug. 6, 1953, Page 1. (Credit: Torrance Historical Newspaper and Directories Archive database, Torrance Public Library)
In 1946, he was a member of the first class to graduate from the FBI’s new academy established for members of local police departments. In 1950, he introduced the rank of “Policewoman” to the force.
Chief Stroh’s retirement becomes official. Torrance Herald, Feb. 11, 1954, Page 1. Click to read caption. (Credit: Torrance Historical Newspaper and Directories Archive database, Torrance Public Library)
After 16 years as police chief, Stroh announced his retirement from the force on Sept. 22, 1953. He served his last day in the job on Feb. 15, 1954, with new chief Willard B. Haslam taking his place. By then, he had seen the force grow from a handful of men to 45 employees.
After being honored later that month at a large retirement dinner, Stroh retired with Molly to a ranch he built in Yucaipa. She died in 1964.
He later returned to the South Bay, settling in El Segundo, where he died at 79 on May 3, 1975.
His daughter, Lucille, worked for the Torrance police department for several years, and for other departments after that.
His son, Jay, first walked the beat as a Torrance patrolman before going on to work for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. He became El Segundo chief of police in 1966, and moved to the same position at the larger Inglewood Police Department in 1971.
Then-Patrolman John Stroh acts as official race starter in a publicity photo for Torrance’s annual “Factory Frolic” event in 1930. (Daily Breeze file photo)
Sources:
Daily Breeze files.
Images of America: Torrance Police Department, by John Prins, Arcadia Publishing, 2008.
Los Angeles Times files.
Torrance Herald files.
