On the road

On the road

Monday, March 25, 2013

April 2013 Dallas Police Shield


 

Dallas Police Officer J.W.Dieken was born on February 26, 1902 in Grundy Center Iowa. His parents were John and Mary Lingelbach Dieken. John attended country schools and graduated from Dike High School in 1922.

During the years 1927-28 John tried to become a pilot in the fledgling Army Air Corps. Like many young men who tried to fly his eyesight was not what it should have been to pilot an aircraft. He was honorably discharged in 1928.

When John was 27 he enlisted in the Marine Corps on January 27, 1930. He trained at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa and then completed his training at San Diego, California.

He was soon sent overseas and served in China for most of the four years that he was in the Marines. He was honorably discharged on January 26, 1934 at Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

I have a photograph of John in his Marine Corp uniform probably taken in China. He looks exactly like the painting of the officer that now hangs in the hallway of the Dallas Police Academy. I also have copy of an employment card that apparently was used by the DPD in the 1930’s. It indicates that John communicated to the department by telephone and that he was given a personal interview. The card also had an unmarked box that was used only if the appointee was not hired. This was checked if the person wanting to be a Dallas officer wanted to be “kept on the list.”  

It’s not apparent why Dieken came to Dallas from Iowa to become a police officer. However he did marry the former “Miss Margaret Smith of Dallas, Texas.”  This marriage happened in Dallas on August 17, 1934, only a month or so after he was hired by the DPD.  One could surmise that Margaret was the reason for the move south. However it’s not clear if John met her after he moved here or he knew her before. The obituary lists Margaret’s address however as 702 N. Collett in Dallas. This is probably her parents address but again it’s not clear.

It is clear however that he and Margaret bought a house at 821 Pavilion Street. This is the area that is now known as Bryan Place off Ross Avenue. There is still a structure that has that address, but is not the 1930’s home that John and his new wife occupied. It was not long after the marriage that the couple decided to have a child since the baby was born in August, 1935.

I’ve written over the years about the tragic death of Officer Dieken. He and his motorcycle partner J.C. Dorris were escorting fire trucks to a three alarm fire in Lakewood at a supermarket on Friday August 9, 1935. Dieken was riding Harley-Davidson police bike “21.” This was actually the notorious and previously numbered “13” police Harley which was called the “Widow Maker” by newspapers at the time. DPD Officer Ernest Leonard was killed on police motorcycle “13”on Tuesday May 28, 1935 riding on S.Denley in Oak Cliff and while chasing a speeding car. After this accident (not the first on #13) the bike was re-built, re-painted and re-numbered “21” as if the bad karma of the motorcycle would disappear without the unlucky “13” attached to it. By the way, there is no current numbered “13” police bike in the DPD inventory today, or maybe since the accident.

On Friday, August 9, 1935 Dieken was hit at the intersection of Parry and Fletcher by a Mrs. Boyd of Brownwood who ran a stop sign and was later charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide. She was in Dallas visiting relatives that lived in the area around Fair Park. As we know from DPD legend, the police bike caught on fire while lying on its side after the accident. The fire eventually burned off the new paint and the number “13” was exposed. It created a sort of hoopla in Dallas newspapers at the time that it was only then that it was discovered by officers that this was actually the old unlucky “13.” It was implied that officers were upset at the City for putting this unlucky motorcycle back on the street instead of destroying it as would probably (hopefully) happen today.

This writer finds it hard to believe that police officers, including Officer Dieken, being suspicious as they are, did not know that he was riding the re-built “Widow Maker.” I’ve spoken with Dieken’s relatives before, and they of course are not sure either. I would think that this might have been a motorcycle that was not assigned to any particular motor jockey, but was ridden only when their mount was down for service or repair. At any rate, Dieken was riding the re-built police bike this day, and again it proved itself very unlucky indeed.

One last item on this motorcycle. After this accident police officials told the Dallas Morning News that the motorcycle would (really) be destroyed this time. However Dieken’s relatives have a photograph of an Officer Bell riding #8 Harley-Davidson a year or so after the accident. The DMN article states that Bell had no reservations riding the old “Widow Maker.” It had not been destroyed by the City after all. Apparently Bell was lucky; no further mention was made of another accident. Number 8 eventually was assigned to new silver Texas Centennial 1936 Harley bought by the City to patrol during the big celebration at Fair Park. I have a photograph of police bike #8 around 1940 with DPD Motorcycle Officer Riddell astride it. He left for the Army soon after, apparently none the worse for wear for riding the descendent of old, and possibly possessed… #13. What eventually happened to old #13? I wonder if it currently resides in say…a garage in Old East Dallas.

Officer Dieken died of injuries at the age of 34 at Baylor hospital on Saturday afternoon. The DPD dispatcher, as was common in those days and still is in some departments, broadcast over the police radio “Last call for Dieken…last call for Dieken…Dieken is now on permanent and forever patrol.”

 The funeral for Officer Dieken was held Sunday afternoon at McKamy-Campbell funeral home on Ross Avenue. The building still stands today, and is now the Belo mansion. Chiefs including Robert L. Jones and Inspector J.M. Welch were in attendance, as well as every available DPD officer including Dieken’s partner two days before, J.C.Dorris. Dieken’s two brothers drove from Grundy Center, Iowa to Dallas for the funeral. A police escort then escorted the body to the Houston Street train station for the journey back to Dieken’s hometown of Grundy Center. A collection of money was taken up from DPD officers to send two officers, J.C.Dorris and H.C.Leach to accompany the fallen officer to the funeral in Iowa, which was held the Tuesday next.

Sadly, Margaret Dieken was not able to attend her husband’s funeral. She had delivered their son, Jack Willis Dieken Jr. just four days before, and she was still at St.Paul hospital recovering. Jack later became the high sheriff in Abilene Texas and has attended the yearly police memorial day in Dallas in honor of his father that he never knew. Ironically, John Dieken had taken out a $1000.00 insurance policy on his young son just hours before he was involved in the accident on that Friday afternoon.  

In my papers I have an interesting “Dear Chief,” written by John that again shows things have not changed much over the years with the DPD in particular and police work in general. It was written on April 4, 1935 which shows that Dieken might have immediately become a motorcycle officer after hiring on. In those days, officers would be hired specifically because they could ride a motorcycle and as such were hired as an “Apprentice Motorcycle Officer.” It’s actually not known if Dieken was hired as such, but he started riding soon it seems. Here is the letter in its entirety with some very minor changes for clarity. According to other sources, the “rocks” were pieces of concrete and it’s not known if “crowding and yelling” was a police term at the time…and notice he was riding motor #10 on the date in question.

Chief S.W.Trammell,

Chief of Police.

Sir;

By direction of Acting Lieutenant J.L. Vaughn I wish to submit a report as follows for the Chiefs information.

At 9:06 P.M. this date Officer Jacobs and I received a call and were instructed to go to Hall and Thomas streets and clear traffic that had the streets blocked.

Upon our arrival we found Hall Street blocked from Ross to State and Thomas Avenue blocked both ways from Hall Street. These streets were literally jammed with automobiles and people on foot.

We immediately started to work straightening out the traffic and I proceeded to Hall and State to start the traffic moving in that direction when suddenly I heard a commotion about fifty yards North of Thomas on Hall and saw several people crowding and yelling. I hurried to the scene and as I approached, the crowd started throwing rocks at me but I pushed on in to where I found four suspects had Officer Jacobs down and were trying to get his pistol. I picked up one of the rocks that had struck me and used it to knock out three of the four suspects that had Jacobs down. I then held the fourth while Jacobs recovered his pistol and placed the handcuffs on him. All this time other people were throwing rocks at us and in order to disperse the crowd and to prevent another attack on us Officer Jacobs fired one time into the air. As soon as we could get out of the crowd we went to a café in the 2300 block on Hall and called Headquarters for help.

During the above mentioned scuffle I lost police badge #207. Did not discover the loss until I arrived at Headquarters with three of the suspects whom we had arrested. Roosevelt Carroll age 23 of 2816 Allen charged with Aggravated Assault, Inciting a riot, Resisting Arrest and Disturbing the Peace. Eurial Brown charged with Aggravated Assault, Resisting Arrest and Disturbing the Peace. Dixon Alphonso Green charged with Inciting a Riot.

When I returned to my motor I found that someone had cut a hole in the front tire. This was Motor # 10 which I had been riding on my tour of duty.

 Very respectfully,

J.W.Dieken,

Police Officer

This “Dear Chief” is not unlike thousands of others that have been written by DPD officers before and since this incident at Hall and Thomas. It begins with why they were the officers at the location, what happened, who was arrested and trying to explain the resulting damage and loss of City property. It’s not known if Dieken had to pay for the badge or the damaged tire on his “motor.”  What’s ironic however is that John Dieken survived four years in the Marine Corps in China, and then finds himself and his partner fighting for their lives at an obscure intersection on an April evening in Dallas. What’s sad too is that in a little more than four months later, this new father would be killed by a possibly inattentive driver at another obscure intersection in Dallas.

John Dieken had been a Dallas police officer for a little over 13 months.   

Mrs. Boyd was later no-billed by a Dallas County grand jury.

 

    

 

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