be granted without imperiling the welfare of the white population and ultimately of American civilization." Ku Klux Klan The Times broke a major story on June 6, 1922, with a photograph of an application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan, bearing Criswell's signature, stating that: I, the undersigned, a native born true and loyal citizen of the United States of America, being a white male Gentile person of temperate habits, sound in mind, and a believer in the tenets of the Christian religion, the maintenance of White Supremacy, the practice of an honorable clannishness and the principles of "pure Americanism," do voluntarily most respectfully, seriously and unselfishly petition you for citizenship in the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan , , , , Away in Washington, D.C., since May 30, Criswell at first said he did not know anything about it, but when he returned to Los Angeles he affirmed that he had signed the application, in blank, but that he had "no knowledge of the workings of the Klan." He made no reference to a second handwritten document bearing his signature in which he answered "Yes" to the question, "Do you believe in white supremacy?" Opposed by Mayor Criswell drew opposition from Mayor Frederick T. Woodman in 1922 when the councilman persuaded the council to ask Woodman for details of a "secret service fund" that Woodman controlled for the purpose of investigating cafés where police officers could not enter and procure evidence. Woodman wrote: "Mr. Criswell, I know, opposed secret service funds, has opposed police activity, voted against a red flag ordinance [forbidding the display of socialist banners] . . . and apparently believes that the authorities . . . should not direct their attention toward the suppression of vice and disorder." Police Department Criswell locked horns with Police Chief Louis D. Oaks on several occasions, at one point in 1922 making "startling charges" that "members of the police department have been levying thousands of dollars in protection money" and at another blocking for several weeks a request by the chief for 1,500 badges for his officers and 50 Dodge automobiles for his department. Council presidency He was elected council president by his colleagues in 1921–23. References Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under the direction of the Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles, March 1938 (reprinted 1966) Presidents of the Los