The Washington police board that tried the officer who left Lincoln unguarded dismissed the complaint, and no record of what was said survives.
The Board of Metropolitan Police was the body in Washington, D.C., that heard complaints against the city's police officers, a force of about 150 uniformed men in the Civil War years [1].
It heard repeated complaints against officer John F. Parker; in 1864 it ruled he be dismissed, but he was reinstated. On 1 May 1865 the police superintendent, Richards, charged Parker with neglect of duty for letting a man enter Abraham Lincoln's box at Ford's Theatre and shoot him on 14 April.
The board heard the case on the afternoon of 3 May 1865 at its office on Tenth Street, behind closed doors, as was usual. Richards and Lincoln's footman Charles Forbes were named as witnesses. Washington newspapers did not cover it. The complaint was dismissed on 2 June 1865. No transcript exists, so what the witnesses said and what Parker answered are unknown.
Because the record is missing, why Parker went unpunished cannot be checked against the board's own words; he stayed on the force until he was fired in 1868 for sleeping on duty. No copy of the board's minutes has been found.
[Report #200] WHAT IT WAS. Bryan: 'the metropolitan police force of about 150 uniformed officers was supplemented by the provost marshal's office and the National Detective Bureau.' (
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PARKER BEFORE 1865. 'Over the next few years he appeared before the Police Board for several transgressions.' (
web.archive.org) 'He was tried before the Board of Metropolitan Police on April 6th, 1864, and judgment was that he be dismissed from the force.' (
archive.org) 'Nevertheless he was reinstated' (
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THE 1865 COMPLAINT. 'On May 1st, 1865, formal notice was served upon Parker that a charge of neglect of duty had been preferred against him by Superintendent Richards to the Board of Metropolitan Police.' (
archive.org) The charge read in part: 'In this, that Said Parker was detailed to attend and protect the President Mr. Lincoln, that while the President was at Ford's Theatre on the night of the 14 of April last, Said Parker allowed a man to enter the President's private Box and Shoot the President.' (
web.archive.org) 'Richards and "Chs. Forbs at Presidents House" were named as witnesses.' (
archive.org) The hearing was 'on the afternoon of May 3rd at the Board's office, 483 Tenth Street.' (
archive.org) 'All we know now is that the trial was in camera, after the usual manner of such procedure' (
archive.org); 'All that is known is that the complaint was dismissed on June 2nd.' (
web.archive.org) 'Washington newspapers did not cover the case.' (
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NO TRANSCRIPT. 'Parker was tried on May 3rd, but no transcripts of the case exist.' (
web.archive.org) 'The charges were dismissed a month later, and no transcripts of the hearing survive.' (
nps.gov) 'We do not know what the witnesses testified' (
archive.org).
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GUARD. Bryan: 'Both Parker and Forbes belonged to the President's immediate house-hold, with which Edwin M. Stanton had nothing to do.' (
archive.org) The superintendent who chose Parker: 'John Parker, to whom the duty fell, had recently been chosen by Superintendent Richards to fill a vacancy in that detail.' (
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AFTER. Parker stayed on: 'Parker remained on the police force until 1868. Finally, he was fired on August 13th of that year for sleeping on duty.' (
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HELD. The reasons for the 2 June 1865 dismissal. Not found (Oct 2026); would settle: the Board's own minutes or trial record for 3 May–2 June 1865, if they survive in the Police Department's records.
THE OCTOBER 2026 RESEARCH REPORT SAID the Board 'dismissed the charges against Parker without issuing a public opinion or administrative penalty'; its source says only 'All that is known is that the complaint was dismissed on June 2nd.' (
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