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
¹ Appointed Interim Chief Awaiting Civil Service Test Results
² Appointed Acting Chief Awaiting Civil Service Test Results