The formative idea for an organization such as Lambda Alpha Epsilon originated at San Jose State College, San Jose, California, during the summer of 1937. That summer, the first California Technical Institute for Peace Officer Training was held at San Jose State. This program was sponsored by the Bureaus of Trade and Industrial Education for the State Department of Education and supported by the California Peace Officers Training, of which Earl Warren (then District Attorney of Alameda County) was Chairman. As each class concluded, the men attending the institute, sharing a common interest in law enforcement training and eager to upgrade their profession, realized that their mutual interest in law enforcement education and the friendships they had built were incentive to continue their association with one another.

This idea, once formed, was immediately set into motion. Plans were laid and a constitution for a fraternal organization of Institute graduates to be known as Lambda Alpha Epsilon. Earl Warren drafted the plan. This constitution was adopted at a meeting of students and instructors from the Institute held at the City Hall in Hayward, California on December 18, 1937. The first chapter, Alpha came into being.

Oscar Jensen, of the California Department of Corrections, was elected President of Alpha Chapter. Regular meetings were held in the Bay Area and the first annual convention was held in Lodi, California on June 13-15, 1938.

Lambda Alpha Epsilon Recognition Keys were awarded to Earl Warren, founding member, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and August Volmer. Professor of Police Administration at the University of California, Berkeley.

By 1941 interest in the organization began to grow. The first chapter of Lambda Alpha Epsilon was Alpha. But with the transfer of the Institute from San Jose to both the University of California campuses of Los Angeles and Berkeley, another chapter needed to be created. Thus, Beta Chapter in Los Angeles was installed on April 25, 1941, with 43 members. Robert C. Knight, Assistant Chief of Police of Bakersfield, was elected president of Beta Chapter. When the Institute established classes at the Berkeley campus of the University, a chapter was founded there for the graduates of that Institute. Therefore, with the establishment of the Los Angeles Chapter, the fraternity had become a two-chapter organization, Alpha in the north and Beta in the south. This brought procedural difficulties.

The original plan had been for a one-chapter organization that would function as the first chapter, Alpha, and the Grand Chapter. While there had been only Alpha, this worked just fine, but with the installation of Beta it meant that each member of Alpha was entitled to a vote but Beta was limited to only certain members voting at annual meetings. Another difficulty encountered by Alpha was that the original constitution limited membership to graduates of the Institute and the members felt that this was too restrictive as there were graduates of other schools, equally as good as the institute, whose applications had been turned down.

 Due to these difficulties and recognizing a need for an organization adjustment, a special committee was appointed in 1945 to study the existing constitution to recommend changes to make it more functional for a multi-chapter organization. As a result of this committee's report a revised constitution was adopted at the annual meeting held in July 1946, that with certain exceptions opened membership to law enforcement people in general. Any sworn police officer with a college education was now eligible for membership.

The aims and purposes of Lambda Alpha Epsilon were as follows:

1. To promote a greater fraternal relationship among graduates of technical and professional police schools.
2. To promote higher standards of educational attainments among peace officers.
3. To promote the institution of courses of police science by recognized colleges and universities.
4. To promote research projects in the field of police science.
5. To promote a better understanding by the public of the aims and ideals of peace officer organizations.
6. To promote the selection of properly trained personnel for law enforcement positions.
7. To promote the standard modern methods in the field of law enforcement.
8. To promote unity of action among law enforcement agencies.

One of the most dedicated members during this time period was Tom Hunter of the California Department of Justice. He served as National President and for many years devoted himself to the development of Lambda Alpha Epsilon. He is recognized today through the Tom Hunter Founders Award, the highest award granted by the association.

Thus, after the drafting of the new constitution in 1946, any sworn peace officer with a college education or a graduate of the Institute could apply for membership in the fraternity. This changed in 1950 when a petition was received from a group of pre-service students of the School of Criminology at the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to this, Lambda Alpha Epsilon had been strictly a professional organization, with only in-service law enforcement personnel as members. However, the possibility of collegiate chapters of non-service persons was looked into and was found to have merit. Epsilon was granted its charter and became the first collegiate chapter.

The petition from Epsilon raised another question. One of the petitioners was a woman, Barbara Feister. After some controversy "Brother Barbara" was admitted as a charter member of Epsilon. After "Brother Barbara" had opened the door, more women were quick to follow. The first all-woman chapter, Theta, in Sacramento California was granted its charter on February 19, 1954. The fraternity was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under California law on August 19,1954.

In 1964, Lambda Alpha Epsilon introduced the first of its annual police competitions including, Criminal Law and Procedure, Criminal Investigation, Accident Investigation, Physical Agility, Camp Perry Pistol course, Combat Pistol Course, and Postal Pistol Match. There were three levels of competition in each of these areas: collegiate lower level, collegiate upper level, and professional divisions.

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