
Today, the
Orange County Probation Department held a party at the
Lamoreaux Justice Center to celebrate their agency's 100th year. There was a nice display of historical artifacts and documents, including this great portrait (above) of
David R. McMillan, who served as Chief Probation Officer from 1939 to 1967. (During World War II,
Carl S. Warner served as interim Chief until McMillan's return from military service.)
.The exhibit (see photo below) also included such documents as the log of the County's juvenile detention facility, with entries as early as 1910. My favorite entry from the first page: "May 24, 1910.
Ida S____. Age 14. Incorrigible. Sent to the Orange County Detention Home, May 25 by order of Judge West. ...Ida [ran] away with a Mexican and lived with him as man and wife for six months."
.Said one wisenheimer, after reading this entry aloud, "I think they call that 'Spring Break' today."

In the photo below, County Supervisors
Nguyen and
Moorlach and Chief Probation Officer
Colleene Preciado were among the many dignitaries wishing the agency a happy birthday.

The many historical documents unearthed by the Probation Dept. in preparation for their centennial will soon be given to the
Orange County Archives, where they will be available for current and future generations of historians. The history of law enforcement agencies is usually pretty interesting, and this is no exception.
2 comments:
Thank you for the info. It sounds pretty user friendly. I guess I’ll pick one up for fun. thank u
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> The many historical documents unearthed by the Probation Dept. ...will soon be given to the Orange County Archives
Do you know what happened to the wonderful portrait of David R. McMillan? Did it go in this archives, too? I understand it has been in storage for many years and not on display at the Probation Department.
David R. McMillan was my grandfather. Besides being a great Chief Probation Officer, he also received a Carnegie Hero medal for rescuing two trapped men from a burning automobile in 1952. You can read about it at carnegiehero.org.
If you can tell me anything about the current whereabouts of this painting, I would really appreciate it.
--Michael D. McMillan
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