1970-1979: Crime

Under Chief Duane R. Baker, the Glendale Police Department continued

its technological advances in the 1970s.

Baker, who wanted to make the department a state-of-the-art police

agency, was responsible for adding a computer-aided dispatch, an

automated management information system, mobile data terminals in police

cars, helicopters, new uniforms, badges and weapons.

At the beginning of the decade, the department had 160 sworn officers

and the average monthly income was $1,066. The chief of police’s monthly

income was about $2,186.

In March 1972, Officer Vic Gunderson was shot in the leg as he

followed a car that was suspected of being used in a robbery. As

Gunderson drove followed the car into an apartment complex, he was met by

a hail of bullets.

One of the bullets ricocheted off his shotgun and struck his leg.

One suspect was immediately arrested at the scene but the other

shooter ran away and holed up in a nearby apartment. The residence

belonged to a Monrovia police officer and his wife, who were held hostage

by the bandit overnight.

When the suspect fled the apartment, the officer’s wife immediately

called police and the man was arrested nearby.

Gunderson was able to return to work a short time later.

Between Oct. 1977 and Feb. 1978, the Hillside Strangler became a

dreaded household word when the bodies of women who had been sexually

assaulted and strangled were discovered along hillsides all over the Los

Angeles area -- including Glendale.

Though the Los Angeles Police Department handled the case, Glendale

played a part in the investigation as well, particularly when it was

discovered that the two suspects, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, were

residents of the Jewel City.

Bianchi had applied to be a Glendale police officer but was rejected.

Buono owned an upholstery shop on East Colorado Boulevard, where the

murders were believed to have been committed.

“Almost all the murders took place in Glendale at the upholstery shop,

but most were LAPD cases because the bodies were dumped in Los Angeles,”

said Capt. Michael Post, the department’s historian. “It was a Glendale

crime problem.”

Bianchi and Buono were convicted of multiple murder charges in 1983

and both were sentenced to life in prison.

DATELINE:

1972

* Officer Vic Gunderson is wounded in the leg by robbery suspects, one

of whom takes a Monrovia police officer and his wife hostage.

* Officer John Isaacson is the second Glendale police officer to die

in the line of duty when he is killed in a freeway traffic accident.

* The Glendale Police Department purchases it first helicopter.

1974:

* The department changes its uniform color from tan to navy blue and

the first 9 mm pistol, the Smith & Wesson Model 59, is authorized for use

by the officers.

* “Wanted” posters for Patty Hearst other members of the Symbionese

Liberation Army associates are posted around the city.

* Det. Jim Peterson is accidentally shot in the neck by an Los

Angeles Police officer with a 12-gauge shotgun as Peterson chases two

suspects out of a home. He returns to work within a week.

1975:

* The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team is established.

1976:

Motor Officer Robert “Bob” Bartl, a 15-year veteran, dies of a heart

attack. A memorial scholarship is established in his name in 1978.

1977-1978: The Hillside Stranglers strike terror in Los Angeles when

the bodies of 12 women strangled to death are found on hillsides

throughout the county. Glendale residents Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo

Buono are later convicted in some of the murders.