Lester Jannings is the police chief of San Paulo, California. He is a stubborn and angry man. When Harry Callahan is sent to San Paulo to investigate the Wilbur murder he is treated horribly by Lester. Jannings openly despises Harry and resents his presence. He is annoyed by Harry's interest in solving the murders in San Paulo. He constantly tells Harry to stay out of the investigations and to leave town and threatens him with jail time. It turns out that Janning's son Alby participated in raping Jennifer Spencer. Jannings was humiliated by this and tried to cover it up. He didn't want anyone to find out his son had raped a woman and he let the rapists get away with it. He tried to stall the investigation and was worried about his reputation being damaged. Lester and his son Alby were pestered by Mick. He resented Mick's influence over his son and after the rape Mick constantly threatened to black mail the chief if he tried to punish him. When Jennifer tried to kill the vegetable like Alby, Lester stopped her and explained his actions. He told Jennifer to leave and that would take care of Mick in jail. When Mick showed up to grab Jennifer, Lester was shot and killed by Mick. Chief Jannings spoke with an Irish accent so he is presumably from Ireland