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    Delaware State Police
    Delaware State Police
    Delaware State Police
    Ebook197 pages1 hour

    Delaware State Police

    By John R. Alstadt Jr.

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    About this ebook

    April 28, 1923, marks the birth of the Delaware State Police. Discussions occurred as early as 1906 for a statewide police organization to cope with speeding automobiles, roving bands of troublemakers, and the ever-present bootleggers. Prohibition and the 18th Amendment brought the discussion to the forefront. With the hiring of Charles J. McGarigle and Joseph A. McVey, the Delaware Highway Police Department came to fruition on January 1, 1920. Using many never-before-published photographs from the Delaware State Police Museum archive, Images of America: Delaware State Police illustrates the storied past of the Delaware State Police from 1920 to 1985.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439626313
    Delaware State Police
    Author

    John R. Alstadt Jr.

    Author John R. Alstadt Jr. is the curator of the Delaware State Police Museum. He has previously published In Memoriam, dedicated to Delaware State Police troopers who met untimely deaths, and With Love to Yourself and Baby: The Story of the Poison Candy Murder Case, a tragic double-murder in Dover 1898.

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      Delaware State Police - John R. Alstadt Jr.

      (DSPM).

      INTRODUCTION

      At the beginning of the 20th century, there was little need for law enforcement with jurisdictional responsibilities over large geographic areas. For the most part, a county sheriff or city police department could address the enforcement of criminal violations. Given that society’s transportation needs were met with horses, boats, or trains, there was no need for traffic enforcement; however, with the invention of the horseless carriage and the rapid growth of that means of transportation, the seeds were sown for the creation of a law enforcement agency to enforce traffic laws over a large territory.

      For Delaware, public discussions regarding the creation of a state police force began in 1906. Those discussions centered on a few reports of rural disturbances that either overwhelmed the small town police forces or occurred in areas that did not have an organized police department. But it was the automobile that truly created the need for such a force. In 1911, at the southern end of Delaware, T. Coleman DuPont, using his own funds, began construction of a hard-surface roadway that was to traverse the length of the state. In northern Delaware, there were various turnpikes funded by tolls that were maintained to facilitate transportation in most weather conditions. On the national level, the federal government responded to mounting public pressure for improved roadways by providing funding to the states for highway construction. In 1917, the creation of the Delaware Highway Department, to be overseen by the Highway Commission, began the first organized approach to obtain federal funds for the construction of hard-surfaced roads. And so it was that the growth of automobile ownership in northern Delaware—using, in particular, the Philadelphia Pike between Wilmington and the Pennsylvania line—and the reckless driving that ensued caused a public demand for measures to deal with this new menace.

      On January 1, 1920, in response to the attorney general’s request, the Highway Commission hired Charles J. McGarigle as its first traffic officer. Officer McGarigle was paid a monthly salary of $90 and was provided with a motorcycle for his patrol work. The early success of having a traffic officer patrolling a single stretch of roadway led to calls for additional officers to patrol other roads in Delaware. By the end of 1920, the Delaware Highway Department was employing five traffic officers whose salary, after six months of service, had grown to $125 per month. During the year, six motorcycles with sidecars had been purchased at an average cost of $575 per unit. Also during the year, the Highway Commission authorized the traffic police to use a timekeeper’s shack on the Philadelphia Pike as its first station and headquarters.

      During 1921 and 1922, the traffic officers continued their duties with no material increase in manpower. A corps of volunteer Citizens’ Highway Police supplemented their efforts, but reports of abuse of power by these volunteers led to calls for a state police department. On April 28, 1923, Gov. William D. Denney approved legislation that essentially created the Delaware State Police. On June 11, 1923, eleven men were hired to supplement the existing four traffic officers, and the first organized training class began. Later in the year, contracts were let, and four stations were constructed for the state police—two in New Castle County, one in Kent County, and one in Sussex County.

      During the 1920s and 1930s, the motorcycle was the principal vehicle used by the state police for their patrol duties. No man would be hired as an officer if he could not demonstrate that he could operate a motorcycle. Even experienced officers had accidents and spills, and the number of injuries was significant. Several officers suffered injuries serious enough to require amputation of a limb. While the motorcycle was a cost-effective vehicle for patrol work, its utility was limited during periods of inclement weather and was downright dangerous at night on unlit, poorly surfaced roadways. With the cost of automobiles decreasing, the state police were able to purchase enough cars in 1935 to allocate two per troop. But what really turned the tide against motorcycles was communications.

      Communication with a trooper while he was on patrol was difficult at best. In the 1920s, a trooper would ride a particular patrol route and stop at the local post office to see if his services were needed. That system was gradually replaced with the telephone. In 1933, troopers were required to telephone their station every half hour and would receive assignments from the desk officer. In 1936, funds were allocated to install a radio transmission system for the state police. This early system allowed for radio broadcasts from the base station to receivers installed in the patrol cars. The receivers were bulky and not weather resistant, thus could not be installed on motorcycles. Over the next eight years, motorcycles were phased out of patrol work in favor of the patrol car.

      While the impetus for the creation of the Delaware State Police was the enforcement of traffic laws, criminal violators were not overlooked. The enabling legislation granted troopers the legal classification of peace officers with the duty to enforce state and federal laws. In the early days, whether it was breaking up a gang of chicken thieves or interdicting bootleggers, the troopers gained a reputation for efficient law enforcement throughout the state. An informal practice was developed that had the most senior troopers at each station assigned to conduct criminal investigations as needed. That system was changed in the summer of 1940 when the Investigative Division was created. Each station would have

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