John Frederick Parker is a man that most people are familiar with because he was one of Abraham Lincolns body guards. He was also a police officer for the Metropolitan Police Department of The District of Colombia. John moved to Washington, D.C. where he was a carpenter. Later 1861 he became one of the first police officers for the Metropolitan Police Department. During his duties as an officer he was caught sleeping at work, being drunk on duty, and visiting a brothel. He would usually be reprimanded for his actions but never fired. John even had some strange excuses to why he had been some places, for instance he got caught sleeping on top of a street car and he claimed that he had heard ducks quacking so he climbed on top to investigate. Another time he was brought before the board for frequenting a whorehouse, which he…show more content… At 7:00 P.M. on April 14, 1865, he was ordered to report to Ford’s Theatre and wait for President Lincolns arrival. Mr. Parker was to be posted right outside the box President Lincoln was watching the play in. But John would leave his post at the intermission of the play “Our American Cousin” to go have a drink with President Lincoln’s footman and coachman at the saloon next to Fords Theatre. After he left at around 10 P.M. John Wilkes Booth entered the theatre and found his way up to President Lincolns box where John Parkers chair was empty. Booth shot President Lincoln in the back of the head. No one knows if Parker every returned to Ford Theatre or if he was still drinking in the saloon next door. John Parker was later charged with failing to protect the president, but it was dismissed a month later. Several years down the road Parker had remained on the police staff for a few more years but his stupidity finally caught up to himself and he was fired on the 13th of August 1868, for once again being caught for sleeping on the
