[3][4] Mayor Joseph Medill had been persuaded by the city's Committee of Seventy, a citizen's group, to fire General Superintendent of Police William Wallace Kennedy and replace him with Washburn.

[1][4] However, he also served during the tenure of acting mayor Lester L. Bond, and in the early days of Harvey Doolittle Colvin's mayoralty.

[3] Washburn accused Captain Michael C. Hickey of releasing prisoners and holding recovered stolen goods, and Brought him before the Board of Police Commissioners on these charges.

[3] During the power struggle within the department, police commissioners challenged Washburn's authority to change patrol duty and order raids on the city's gambling dens.

[3] In January 1873, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance allowing anyone arrested to secure their release by posting a special bail double the amount of the highest fine they could incur.

[3] The ordinance allowed the money to be deposited with the officer in charge of the police station they had been taken to, despite this being a practice that Washburn had earlier attempted to stop.

[3] Washburn created another dispute within the department when he made an attempt to require officers to work uninterrupted twelve-hour patrols.

"[3] They moved to suspend Washburn pending a trial on these charges, and appointed Police Secretary Ward as acting superintendent.

[3] After they refused to declare obedience to Washburn, Captains Michael C. Hickey and Fred Gund were promptly dismissed by Medill from the police force.

[3] On February 4, amid the leadership strife, the Committee of Seventy arranged for a mass meeting to be held to support Medill and Washburn's authority over the police force.

[3] The meeting was well attended, and prominent speakers, including former mayor John Wentworth, spoke in support of Medill and Washburn.

[3] In a 1873 scandal, Milwaukee newspapers accused Washburn of forcing a Wisconsin businessman named Wheeler to pay the police department $200 for the return of stolen goods.

[11][12][13] In March 1884, Washburn lobbied the US Congress against the bill which created the Bureau of Animal Industry, and helped to weaken the agency's ultimate authority.