July 2012 Dallas Police Shield

July 2012 Dallas Police Shield

Recently I received a copy of a March 1947 issue of “Municipal News and Views.” It was a City of Dallas house organ that included news from various departments throughout the City. It was volume 2; number 3 which would make one believe that the paper started soon after the end of WWII.

The newsletter was 11 pages long, and had a picture of the proposed “Corporation Court” that was to be built next to 106. What is interesting is that the drawing was signed by a “City Architect.” I guess that’s when the City had the money for such positions. Well, maybe they still do, I don’t know. The paper was proudly printed by the “Municipal Print Shop.” I’m not sure if the City still has one of those either.

The newsletter was sent to me by the son of Officer Preston D. Hale. You might remember that Officer Hale was killed in an airplane crash in February, 1947. He was using his own airplane to search for bank robbers who had fled in an easterly direction. His plane crashed in an area which was near a dairy farm in Oak Cliff. What’s tragic and ironic is that Hale had been in action in Europe during the war and apparently didn’t receive any injuries from his time in combat. He had been a Dallas officer since 1933 when he, along with many other DPD officers joined the military after Pearl Harbor. He had received many medals and commendations during his time in Europe. He spent two years, three months in the European theater including Normandy, Southern France, Holland and Germany. After coming home, he joined the department again and within a short time, died in the line of duty.

The newsletter was written largely by employees of various departments. Reading the stories submitted shows “how things were” in business in a more innocent time you might say of the 1940’s. Things that workers would never write or even say out loud in today’s work environment were fodder for other employee’s information and amusement.

For instance in the City Purchasing Department, the writer reported that “Attention All Girls,” Have you noticed two well dressed men in our office? Jimmy Dorff and Harry Watters have both purchased new suits and if I might say so-are mighty handsome!”

It seems that the Purchasing Department had more juicy gossip than most of the other City departments. Another breaking news story that would cause uproar today only because a person’s personal life was being infringed upon was the piece “Who is the mysterious man that is meeting our pretty little Rachel for lunch so frequently?” Looks like it might be serious! One can only imagine poor Rachel when she read this. Hopefully the story didn’t come back to haunt her, or the guy! Maybe the saying “It all starts with lunch” hadn’t been invented yet!

The police department’s entries were admittedly and predictably pretty dull, with a couple of exceptions.

There were the usual sickness reports, and well wishes for speedy recoveries. Lt. Charles Batchelor was congratulated on his Cocker Spaniels having pups. Captain Smith had a prized “Berkley” sterling silver lighter that he picked up while stationed in China during the war.

There was also the rather serious report that Chief Carl Hanson and 25 members of the police department drove to Waco to assist in guarding President Truman as he visited the city. Among the officers helping out were Sergeants Lumpkin and Griffin, and Officer Wiggins who guarded the presidential plane “The Sacred Cow.”

Bettie Brown, the “friendly little girl with the big brown eyes” who worked in the Chiefs office, was in New York City with her husband.  Can you imagine being described this way today in The Shield, or The Police News?

On a sad note, and one which all of us fear, was the death of Sergeant Bert Dellinger. He had joined the DPD on November 6, 1913.  What is interesting is the fact that he was promoted and demoted many times during his career. This may have been due to the financially strapped City during the depression. Or was it something else? The article didn’t say.

 He was promoted to Captain in 1921. A short time later he was promoted to Assistant Chief and served at that rank until June 1, 1933. He was then reassigned as a Sergeant on that same date of June 1, 1933. He was then promoted to Lieutenant in 1936. He served in this rank until October 1939 when he was again sent back to a Sergeants rank. It said that this change was due to “his age.” Yep, that would go over really good today!

Fortunately Dellinger retired on June 3, 1946 after 32 years of service. Unfortunately and this is part we all fear, and as happens today all too often, retirement was short-lived. He died in January 1947 after being retired only some eight months.