Adam “Elmer” Jansen worked for the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) for 30 years, from 1932 to 1962. In 1947 he became the Police Chief and served the longest tenure to date at 14 years.
To deal with a lack of officers and a demand for more visibility on the streets, he changed SDPD’s 2-man-car policy to one officer per car, a policy change that increased the number of patrolling vehicles at any given time, but which was not looked on favorably by many officers and had mixed results.
For details of his term at SDPD, the SDPD Museum has more information at: Jansen (SDPoliceMuseum.com)
In 1962, he retired from the SDPD and was appointed Sheriff to fill the term of outgoing Sheriff Bert Strand who was retiring early. In 1963, he ran for a full four-year term as Sheriff.
Jansen received considerable publicity in late 1961 for arresting a La Jolla bookstore owner for selling “Tropic of Cancer” by Henry Miller. The bookstore owner was cleared of charges of selling pornographic literature.
In the primary election, he failed to get the majority needed to avoid a general election by only the narrowest margin, leading to a two-person general election in November 1962.
Jansen received support from all the local media. His election Chairman, James F. Mulvaney even predicted he would win in a “landslide”.
Instead, he lost the election to then El Cajon Police Chief Joseph O’Connor, touted as the “Biggest Upset” of the 1962 elections.
Pundits blamed his appointment by the County Board of Supervisors, which was supposed to give him an advantage but may have backfired with voters, and the substantial pension plus Sheriff’s office pay ($10,000 from SDPD and over $20,000 as Sheriff, with another increase due in January 1963). The high pay caused some resentment among voters.
