History of La Center Police Department

• The town of La Center was established in 1874.
• In 1889 a Territorial Judge ruled over the area.
• On September 2, 1909 W.P. Wampler was appointed the first Marshal. On that same date, the committee who appointed Wampler discussed selecting a site for a jail.
• December 1909 Joseph Brothers was Judge.
• In 1913 A.J. Culbertson was Justice of the Peace.
• In 1914 E.L. Hughes was Police Judge.
• In 1919 H.E. Basham kept the peace.
• In 1924 George Haskins, who owned the local Garage, was appointed Marshal.
• In 1925, E.L. Mitchell was Police Judge.
• In September 1925 G.M. Zeider was Police Judge.
• In 1925 W.H. McCann was Police Judge.
• In 1929 W.M. McCann was Justice of the Peace.
• In 1932 W.M. McCann was Police Judge.
• For 9 years in the 1960's, John Gary served as Municipal Judge.
• On October 31, 1971, Paul Jackson became La Center's Marshal, and served until 1981.
• Lori Benfit-Neff was hired in 1979 as a police officer. She eventually became La Center's Town Marshal.
• In 1986 Tim Hopkin was hired as a police officer, who became Police Chief in 1996 and remains La Center's Police Chief today.