6. An Extremely Bad Cop, With an Important Assignment
Close calls, the knowledge that many wished him ill, and reports of numerous plots against his life did not daunt Abraham Lincoln, and he often went about unescorted. The tall, bearded, gangly, and easily identifiable president sometimes walked alone at night from the White House to the War Department. He often attended church or went to the theater without bodyguards, and generally disliked the fuss of a military escort. On the fateful night of April 14th, 1865, he was assigned a bodyguard – but an inept one. By any measure, John Frederick Parker (1830 – 1890) was a bad cop. One of the first officers to join Washington’s Metropolitan Police Force when it was created in 1861, he stood out for his ineptness and unsuitability as a policeman.
Parker was often brought before the police oversight board on a variety of charges, any of which could have gotten him fired. The most frequent accusation was conduct unbecoming an officer. He was let off each time with a slap on the wrist. Parker’s infractions included but were not limited to the abuse of civilians. He was known to curse in public, frequent brothels, get drunk on the job, and sleep off his inebriation in streetcars instead of walk his assigned beat. Each time, he got away with no more than a reprimand. Despite that poor record, when in November 1864, the Metropolitan Police Force created the first permanent detail to guard the president, Parker was one of four officers assigned the task.