In the last few years, I have talked with many retirees at the monthly lunch meetings in Mesquite, and at other functions along the way. I always encourage the former members of the DPD to write a letter or e-mail me about their experiences. I always enjoy reading about how it was to be a police officer in Dallas “Back in the Day,” as I like to put it. I appreciate all the input. Once again my e-mail address is dmntia1995@aol.com. Please send ‘em in.
One interesting e-mail I received and have saved for a future publication is from retired Officer Gayle Tippit. The officer was working in November 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Of course we all know the story of the tragic death of Officer J.D. Tippit at the hands of Lee Harvey Oswald on that 22nd of November in Oak Cliff.
I’ve asked “Tip” as his friend’s call him, what is was like during the days and weeks that followed. He has related to me that for years, he was asked if he was related to J.D. (he wasn’t.) I’m sure that he fielded questions for his entire career and beyond about the name he shared with the officer that arguably, is the most famous police officer in American history.
These are just some of his musing’s. I hope to hear from him again. Some of the words, such as “horetels ” were police slang from a distant time. The term “rank rook” is good. I’ll use that at some point with Tip’s permission! It describes the same kind of “no tell motels,” but using a different word, from a different type of police officer.” I admire these officers. They were hard men; you didn’t mess with ‘em.
The streets that Tip talks about were just south of downtown, around where the city hall is now. I’ve seen pictures of a rather large hotel that sat where the current slanted building now stands. I remember as a “rank rook” that some of these buildings on these streets still stood in 1977. It’s interesting that Tip mentions that the “girls” weren’t afraid of the uniformed officers, but would occasionally allow themselves to be arrested and go peaceably so that the officers could show that they were doing SOMETHING to stem the tide of the oldest profession. These are Tip’s words, with light editing on my part.
OLD stuff from 1950.
Your mention of the old “horetels” stirred this up. There were streets named Griffin (still) Corsicana (still) St Louis (still) Pocahontas & Peters (gone) there were BIG, mostly two, three story houses on both sides of these streets and I do not remember even one that was not full of whores. Also, several walkup “horetels.” I was assigned to these areas as a rank rook. The old heads knew most of the girls and would talk to them and the girls freely talked because the uniforms seldom if ever bothered them. Once in a great while we would place one in jail, just because we needed to prove we were working and the girls knew what this was about and never complained.
You could drive your personal car along these streets and there were arms or legs waving out the windows and from porches along with whistles and HEY'S. Anything to attract attention to the available wares inside.
The then number two chief was O. P. Wright, nicknamed Pokey. It was storied that he acquired the name Pokey because he found a dead horse on Pocahontas and did not know how to spell it so tied a rope around the dead horse’s neck and drug it around to St Louis St. with his squad car, so his report was that he found the horse there.
Peters St. There was a back room joint at 1108 Peters. The dispatcher, there was only one, would say "Disturbance at eleven hundred eight and Peters in the rear".
The dispatch office, about 10' square was in the basement at the head of the stairs to the locker room in the sub basement. We stopped there at the end of our tour and got our call sheets & filled out action taken on the back. We had one "female dog complaint", my senior partner wrote "already knocked up".
Tip
This next story from Tip is about Officer Leonard Mullinax, who was killed in Deep Ellum at the Sherman Hotel in 1962. Mullinax was a former motor jock who, at the time of his death, worked in Vice. He was also up for a promotion to Sergeant. He and an informant had gone to the “horetel” to confront the Irish hotel owner, about some bootlegging complaints. The following is Tip’s recollection.
Your mention of Leonard Mullinax and the Sherman “Horetel” brought back some memories. I happened to be on duty when that happened. I had to go to Parkland. They took me to Leonard’s body, naked. He asked me to find the bullet hole. I could not find it until they showed it to me.
.25 hole in his navel, totally out of sight without a bit of probing. Roy Westphal, whom I had known since he was knee high, was his partner. I got the story from him. They were going down the stairway, the guy was a step or two below Mullinax when he turned and fired point blank. The round went upward into Mullinaxes heart killing instantly. I’m not sure why they had not searched him; however he (the Irish owner) was not under arrest at that moment.
Tip.
Another story from Tip is this interesting tidbit about the drama that was city court back in the fifties. I’ve talked to several officers from this time and it seems to me that they were always in city court. I do believe that an officer would have to show up every day to see if a violator showed up to dispute the officer’s citations. And amazingly, no comp time or overtime was available.
Early 1950s
Any and all court cases were set when you rotated to late nights. There was NO pay or comp time for attending court.
I observed a "Grapette" delivery truck driving very erratically, driver was very drunk. Turned out another Officer had arrested him near the same location ONE week earlier. Months later he and I were on late nights, cases come up in Joe B. Browns Court. Judge reads the docket. One by one, on ours "PASS this case until 2 PM." I was dumb enough to be in the courtroom at 2:00 PM. NO JUDGE, no one else present. I went home to bed. Next time on late nights, court again, same result BUT I went home to bed this time. Forward this to SIX more times. When the case was passed to 2:00 PM, I approached the bench and stated as follows:
“Judge this is the 7th time this same procedure has occurred and nothing more happened. “ Told him of my being dumb enough to there again at 2:00 PM the first time. You can get me fired or put me in jail but DO NOT issue another subpoena to me because I am NOT coming back on this case again. Turned and walked out. Never heard another word about it.
We got to the point when we observed a DWI we would stop them get them out of the car. Lock it and throw the keys away and drive off, leaving them there afoot after we searched them for extra keys to the auto. NOTE: statute of limitations are LONG run out.
Also around this same time there were twin, flannel mouth lawyers, Ross & Doss Hardin. Watching them defend a DWI in court was a three ring circus. They were the clowns and tried the Officers. Last time I saw them they appealed a suspended sentence on a DWI. They ended up getting the defendant placed in jail immediately.
Tip
Another retired officer that I see at the monthly retiree lunch’s is retired Sergeant Jim Behringer. I wrote a few issues ago about the concert in 1964 with the Beatles headlining. The concert happened at Memorial Auditorium (still there,) and way before Reunion Arena (gone.)
Sergeant Behringer took the time to write a description of what it was like to be Elvis Presley’s security officer during his concert in Dallas. He wrote that Dallas Police were given specific instructions about working with “The King.”
I know Elvis played the Cotton Bowl in the fifties. I believe the Sergeant is talking about Elvis’ comeback tour in the early seventies, when Dallas was a stop.
Sergeant Behringer wrote that he was told that no other officer was to have direct contact with Elvis except himself. No police were to ask for his autograph. Behringer had to order an officer from another department to leave as he was determined to get an autograph.
At the Cabana Hotel (now a jail, also where the Beatle’s stayed during their visit,) only a few officers were allowed on the floor where Elvis was holed up. Any visitors to the floor had to state their business and be cleared as Behringer notified the requested party. The sergeant mentioned that all of Elvis’ musicians were extremely courteous to the police.
At the convention center, security was also very tight. There were only four officers at the center anywhere near Elvis, and only Behringer having direct contact. Apparently Elvis put on quite a show. He was sweating profusely in his white suit and looked like he had just gotten out of a shower! His crew immediately wrapped the rock and roller in towels.
As Elvis and his entourage were getting on their plane at Love Field to leave, several of Elvis’ people told Behringer that Dallas Police provided some of the best concert security they have seen in a long time.
I wonder if Sergeant Behringer actually scored an autograph? I’ll have to ask him.
I received a letter at the DPA recently from retired Sergeant Leslie Berlharz who served between 1954 and 1989. The letterhead indicated that the letter was from the “Rakkasan’s” 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team Assn. The sergeant served as an Army Paratrooper from 1951-1954 in the Korean War. When Berlharz got out of the Army, he joined the Dallas Police Department.
Sergeant Berlharz is a member of the “ Rakkasan’s” alumni association.
I wrote in the September 2010 issue of The Shield about the night of June 6th, 1944 when the Allies hit Normandy Beach. The radio announced the invasion around 3 AM to the public that Europe was being liberated. Sergeant Berlharz grew up on Swiss Avenue in Dallas in the 1940’s. Here he relates his experience that day as he was a delivery boy for the now defunct Dallas Times Herald.
The Sergeant writes that he and his brother had paper routes in East Dallas. Their District Manager, Mr. Wilbanks, called the boys early that morning to hurry downtown and sell “EXTRAS.”
They were given fifty papers to sell. It seemed to the paper boys that all of Dallas had come downtown to catch up on the latest war news. It’s a trait of human nature that anything BIG, good or bad , is best experienced with other people. This is my personal observation of course but there you go.
Anyway, the fifty papers were immediately sold out, and the two brothers went back and got fifty more! Berlharz wrote that he and his brother had similar experiences with the selling of newspapers on V-E and V-J Days in 1945.
Sergeant Berlharz tells an interesting story about how NBC radio first learned of the invasion from German broadcasts! Apparently NBC reported the first news of the invasion saying that they were monitoring Nazi overseas radio broadcasts that the invasion had begun. The news reports were directed to the German people from Berlin saying that Allied Paratroopers had landed in force in France.
NBC reported this saying that they could not confirm the news since there was an Allied “NEWS BLACKOUT” over the southern half of England (where the invasion started,) for the seventy two hours previous to June 6th.
These stories and others I’ve received are important to the history of the everyday life of a Dallas Police Officer. I enjoy reading these e-mails and letters and encourage anyone with stories to share to e-mail me at dmntia1995@aol.com. You can write to the DPA as well and they will forward letters to me.
W.H.Croom,II #3973
Retired Senior Corporal
Youths Gone Astray since 1955
www.asylummobilitarium.blogspot.com
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