Isom J. Dargan, County’s 1st Ranking Black Lawman, Dies
Isom J. Dargan, the first black lieutenant, captain and inspector in the history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died July 20 in Los Angeles.
He was 72 and had a respiratory ailment, said a spokeswoman for the Angelus Funeral Home, where his funeral was held Saturday.
Dargan was a 1940 graduate of Langston (Okla.) University who worked his way through that school and then became a teacher and principal.
He moved to California in 1943 and did graduate work at USC, joining the Sheriff’s Department in 1947 for $229 a month.
He was promoted to sergeant in 1955, to lieutenant in 1960 and to captain in 1966, and he became one of only 20 inspectors (now commanders) in the department in 1968.
Then-Sheriff Peter Pitchess, in announcing Dargan’s promotion to lieutenant, called him a “consistently competent” officer with proven leadership abilities.
Dargan retired in 1974 and is survived by his wife, Effie, four children, two brothers and eight grandchildren.
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