Rapid Strides Made by City Police Force
Thoroughly Equipped Department of Today
Number 18 in 92.
It is a far cry from
the early Little Rock police forces of the period just after the
Civil War to the modern police department of today, but the “old
heads” can sit back and tell you how some of the old-timers,
equipped with a revolver, a night stick and a pair of
thick-soled shoes, could put the best on the present force to
shame at old-fashioned policing.
Back in those
wide-open, saloon-infested days, the Little Rock police force,
(they didn’t call it a department) consisted of a chief, a desk
sergeant, a jailer, and from 15 – 20 patrolmen, who covered the
rapidly growing city as best they could – on foot, on time
street cars, or in the force’s horse drawn patrol wagon in case
of an emergency.
Today, the
department consists of a chief, a night chief, three desk
sergeants, a jail sergeant, two jail patrolmen, a police
captain, three lieutenants, eight detective sergeants under a
chief of detectives, and identification expert, two auto-theft
detectives, five motorcycle patrolmen, secretary to the chief, a
record clerk, three radio operators, and 52 patrolmen covering
the city 24 hours a day.
And, at that, the
department personnel, totaling 82 men, is below the peak of 1929
and 1930 of 96 men.
In addition to a new
patrol wagon (and the patrol is no longer a “wagon,” but known
as the police patrol), the five motorcycles are supplemented by
four new radio-equipped squad cars manned by two officers each
of the three eight-hour shifts per day.
Equipment Modern
At disposal of the
police are riot guns, sub-machine guns, tear gas guns, an
up-to-date identification bureau with pictures and finger-print
records on criminals, high-powered night spotlights, and other
modern police equipment employed in detection of crime and
apprehension of criminals.
But back in the
nineties, the blue-coats faced what must have been a very
different situation.
The earliest police
time book in the basement files of the City hall is dated 1892.
The force consisted
of a chief, a sergeant, and 16 men.
In 1900 Frank
Botsford was chief. He commanded one desk sergeant, a patrol
wagon driver and jailer, and 21 men. And had plenty of crime,
too.
Police headquarters
was in the 100 block of West Markham street, with the city jail
directly behind it on the bank of the river.
Patrolmen walked
beats just like they do nowadays, but the districts extended
into the residential sections of town which are now covered by
radio squad cars, and the only contact with the “beat” men was a
telephone call every two hours.
If
a killing took place, the chief and whoever was at headquarters
jumped into the patrol wagon, whipped up the horse, and was off
down the street, with the driver clanging a firebell on the
wagon.
(Today a lieutenant,
two squad car patrolmen, and possibly a motorcycle patrolman,
would be on the scene in a few minutes, dispatched from whatever
part of the city they happened to be in by radio from police
headquarters.)
Often the patrolman
covering a beat would not know of a crime in his territory until
he telephoned into headquarters, perhaps more than an hour
later.
Records on police
activities could not be found before 1835 when a constable,
assisted by deputies, seemed to be the “law” in Little Rock.
Constable, Now
Inactive
The constable
remained active until as late as 1915, but since then has become
inactive as a police officer – the department absorbing his
duties, which back in 1835 to 1865 must have been, to say the
least, multitudinous.
In 1907 when Frank
McMahan was chief of police he had a force consisting of a night
chief, a captain of police, two or three sergeants, with a total
personnel of 50 men, including patrolmen.
As late as 1900 two
or three officers were detailed as “stock catchers,” forerunners
of the city dog catcher of today. Their duty was to keep stray
stock from jamming traffic in the business district.
The police department
personnel totaled 64 men in 1915.
The first motor
driven police vehicle was a “Moon” patrol wagon purchased in
1913. It had to be cranked and coaxed along, but it was a step
from horse-driven wagons. The first regular squad cars were
“T-model” Ford touring cars.
Before the Fords were
bought, the chief rode over the city in an old-style Cadillac
which was used to answer emergency calls.
Instead of three
eight-hour shifts a day as now, policemen worked two shifts – 13
hours from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. and 11 hours from 8 p.m. – 7 a.m.,
and in 1900 drew pay of $30 a month, so a musty old record of
that year reveals.
Today a probationary
patrolman draws $94.50 for his first year and $104.50 thereafter
as long as he remains a patrolman.
Pay of sergeants,
lieutenants, captains and so on range upward but is below the
normal standard of 1930.
Before 1900 the
police force payroll was as low as $1500 a month. Now it varies
between $8600 and $8800 a month, and in 1929 and 1930 was up to
slightly more than $11,000 a month.
A glimpse at a police
docket dated November, 1872, discloses that the old-timers were
faced with the same types of cases as members of the department
contend with today. A few changes in types of charges are
noted.
For instance, today
it is “drunk” regardless of where the offender is found. Then
is was “drunk on the street,” “drunk in an alley,” “drunk in a
hotel.” Apparently more persons were arrested for vagrancy than
in recent years.
Fines back in the
nineties were considerably lower than at the present. A fine
for public drunkenness was $2.50. Today it ranges from $10.50
and up. Lawyers were expensive or scarce as many guilty pleas
were made.
Possibly the greatest
advancement in police work since the first force was organized
is the police radio KGHZ. A telephone call to police
headquarters is relayed in a few seconds by radio to squad car
patrolmen who within a few minutes can be at the scene of a
crime.
In the old days such
efficiency was an impossibility.
