San Fernando Police Chief Sherwood Dies at 54

San Fernando Police Chief Charles E. Sherwood, who molded a small-town police staff into a professional force respected by law enforcement officials throughout the Los Angeles area, died Tuesday of complications from leukemia. He was 54.

Sherwood was considered an authority on narcotics investigations. In the 1960s and 1970s, he specialized in narcotics cases, leading many raids and often working on joint investigations with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sherwood joined the San Fernando Police Department in 1955 as a foot patrolman, after serving three years as a police officer in Albuquerque, N. M., and rose through the ranks. He was appointed police chief by the San Fernando City Council eight years ago.

“He generated respect from the young as well as the old people in the Chicano community. They felt he was approachable,” said Jess Margarito, the city’s only Latino council member and a longtime San Fernando resident.

Although his leukemia was diagnosed in 1984, Sherwood continued working and the disease seemed to be in remission until recently, friends and associates said.

Two weeks ago, he stopped working and appointed Lt. Dominick Rivetti acting chief of the 32-member force. Rivetti will probably continue in office until the City Council appoints a new chief, said City Administrator Don Penman.

Sherwood earned the respect of judges at the San Fernando courthouse and LAPD officials alike for the professional conduct of his force.

Upon his appointment as chief in 1977, Sherwood initiated an investigation into allegations of police misconduct. Two officers were fired for use of excessive force and other misconduct, Rivetti said.

‘Built’ the Department

“He built the modern-day, professional police department in San Fernando,” said Los Angeles Police Capt. Larry Fetters, who worked with Sherwood on joint homicide and gang-related investigations in the department’s Foothill Division, next to San Fernando.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. W. Lew, who was supervising judge for the San Fernando Municipal Court when he met Sherwood in 1983, said the former police chief was a “friend of the court who bridged the relationship of the county court to his little city.”

Sherwood, who was a Mission Hills resident, is survived by his wife, Nina, seven children and four grandchildren. One of his sons is a policeman in El Monte and another is a candidate for the Los Angeles police academy.