Career
Thomas Lafayette Houchins Junior. served under him during the Berkeley, California protests. Sheriff Madigan had the Alameda County Sheriff"s Department aid the University of California Police, California Highway Patrol and Berkeley Police during the Free Speech Movement in October 1964. Madigan ordered his officers to help clear protesters from Sproul Hall.
During the People"s Park protests, sometimes referred to as "Bloody Thursday", Madigan authorized use of buckshot, rather than birdshot, against demonstrators who were throwing bricks at the deputies.
In May 1970, after the Kent State shootings he ordered tear gas dropped from helicopters on the University of California at Berkeley. His authority came from Governor Ronald Reagan.
In the 1970 Alameda County sheriff election, Madigan was opposed by Stew Albert of the Youth International Party. In 1973 Madigan opened the Work Furlough Center, the first incarceration facility in California designed entirely to run work release programs.
