During World War II Gareth “Gary” Wean served as a Gunner’s Mate in the United States Navy.  After the war, in February 1946, Gary Wean joined the Los Angeles Police Department.  As a LAPD police officer, Gary Wean worked a variety of assignments, including traffic enforcement, patrol and detectives. 

According to Wade Frazier, In 1947, Gary Wean “was pursuing an armed robber through the streets of Los Angeles on a high-speed chase.  The suspect crashed his car as it barreled along at ninety miles an hour through LA’s streets.  He tried escaping on foot, and Gary cornered him in the dark.  The suspect begged for his life.  As Gary approached, the man stuck his pistol (which had already killed somebody during the robbery) into Gary’s abdomen and fired.  He fired a second shot that hit Gary in his hand.  Gary then emptied his pistol into the man, while his partner also fired, killing the robber instantly.  Gary’s partner rushed him to the hospital.  Although Gary’s abdomen was in great pain, he did not want to unbuckle his Sam Brown belt (a wide leather belt which held his firearm and other police equipment) as they rushed to the hospital, because he thought it might be all that was holding him together.  When Gary finally took off his belt, his partner saw that the bullet hit the belt and did not penetrate Gary’s skin.”

In 1952, Gary Wean resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department but continued his career in law enforcement as a Detective Sergeant for the Ventura Police Department (California); an investigator for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Investigation; and, finally, in 1966, as the Chief Investigator for the Ventura County Public Defender.  He retired from his law enforcement career in 1970.

Gary Wean is also the author of There's a Fish in the Courthouse. According to one reader/reviewer, Gary Wean’s books is “a very sad but true tale of corruption in Ventura County, California.  Based on sprawl growth from Los Angeles and the artificially created energy crisis, petroleum rich Ventura County was a necessary plum for the picking by corrupt interest. But, only if controlled by the "right" people and entities. Billions of dollars have been made and are yet to be made as real estate development continues to replace farmland and petroleum is extracted from the Los Padres National Forest.  The result has been necessary control by any means for a minimum of 40 years. This control has resulted in corruption is all levels of government, including elected local, state and national officials, government staff, law enforcement, the District Attorney and the entire judicial system of the County and State.”