Division History

Police Marshals, Superintendents and Chiefs: 1816 to Present

From February 10, 1816, when the borough of Columbus began its corporate existence, the following Marshals, Superintendents of Police and Police Chiefs have held office. Authority for this list is credited to Alfred E. Lee, publisher of Lee's History of Columbus in 1892 and the publishers of the proceeding police histories.

Marshals

• 1816-1817 - Samuel King
• 1818-1818 - James Fisher
• 1819-1819 - Demming L. Rathbone
• 1820-1823 - Samuel Shannon
• 1824-1824 - Benjamin Sells
• 1825-1826 - Samuel Shannon
• 1827-1827 - John Kelly
• 1828-1829 - Benjamin Sells
• 1830-1830 - Julius G. Goodman
• 1831-1831 - John Kelly
• 1832-1832 - Benjamin Sells
• 1833-1833 - George B. Harvey
• 1834-1835 - Abraham Stotts
• 1836-1842 - George B. Harvey
• 1843-1843 - George Riordan
• 1844-1846 - George B. Harvey
• 1847-1850 - John Writzell
• 1851-1851 - John H. Turney
• 1851-1853 - James Stephens
• 1854-1856 - Henry M. Wakeman
• 1857-1860 - John B. Coffroth
• 1861-1864 - Samuel Thompson
• 1865-1865 - Adam Stephens
• 1866-1868 - Patrick Murphy
• 1869-1873 - Charles Engelke

Superintendents & Chiefs

• 1874-1875 - Samuel Thompson
• 1876-1877 - Charles Engelke (Acting)
• 1878-1879 - Charles Engelke (Full)
• 1880-1881 - J. W. Lingo
• 1882-1883 - Samuel Thompson
• 1884-1886 - J. W. Lingo
• 1887-1893 - John E. Murphy
• 1893-1895 - Edward Pagels
• 1895-1899 - Patrick Kelly
• 1899-1899 - J.M. Walcutt
• 1899-1903 - William P. Tyler
• 1903-1904 - John A. Russell
• 1904-1910 - John F. O'Connor
• 1910-1920 - Charles E. Carter
• 1920-1931 - Harry E. French
• 1931-1936 - Fred Kuntz
• 1936-1939 - John F. Dunn
• 1940-1943 - Otto C. Kaffits
• 1943-1944 - Robert Wynn
• 3/5/1944 - 3/1/1948 - Lester Merica
• 3/1/1948 - 3/9/1948 - Howard B. Hinton
• 3/10/1948 - 11/15/1948 - Charles M. Berry
• 11/16/1948 - 3/5/1954 - Frank Harrison
• 4/20/1954 - 6/15/1966 - George Scholer
• 6/14/1966 - 9/2/1966 - Martin Winters¹
• 9/3/1966 - 2/18/1970 - Robert H. Baus
• 2/18/1970 - 3/15/1970 - Robert Gloeckner²
• 3/15/1970 - 4/4/1972 - Dwight W. Joseph
• 4/4/1972 - 3/12/1983 - Earl Burden
• 4/10/1983 - 5/26/1990 - Dwight D. Joseph
• 6/15/1990 - 3/16/2009 - James G. Jackson
• 3/17/2009 - 1/13/2012 - Walter L. Distelzweig
• 1/14/2012 - 4/5/2012 - Stephen Gammill (Interim)
• 4/6/2012 - 2/8/2019 - Kimberley K. Jacobs
• 2/9/2019 - 1/28/2021 - Thomas Quinlan
• 1/29/2021 - 6/2/2021 - Michael Woods (Interim)
• 6/3/2021 - Present - Elaine Bryant

¹Appointed Interim Chief Awaiting Civil Service Test Results

²Appointed Acting Chief Awaiting Civil Service Test Results