On the road

On the road

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

March 2014 Dallas Police Shield


 

The Dallas Police Department was one of the first major police departments in the country to begin using motorcycles in the fight against crime. Detroit, Michigan is generally thought to be the first to actually use motorcycles with police officers riding bikes instead of horses. The City of Dallas of course continued using Mounted Units for many years, then phasing them out in favor of much cheaper to maintain police cars, only to bring them back in the 1980’s and luckily, we still have them today.

In 1909 however Police Commissioner Harry Seay said that two motorcycles would be delivered for use by the DPD. The officers riding them would answer “hurry” calls and would be able to overtake speeding automobiles. He also said that he had not decided who would actually ride the machines. It could be someone from within the police department, but it might be necessary to hire someone from outside the department who already knew how to ride.

The Police Commissioner said that the men selected must be able to operate the motorcycles with sufficient speed to catch vehicles and still avoid any accidents to themselves or pedestrians whom they may encounter.

On May 15, 1909 the DMN reported that six members of the DPD have been selected to begin training immediately. The six riders with the two bikes would give the department two shifts of two officers with an extra shift in case of an emergency. It’s not known whether two of the officers would just hang around until an emergency came up, or maybe the emergency would be when one of the six would call in sick.

On May 21, 1909, after only six days, it was reported that the training was completed (?) and that the officers were “at least sufficiently” skilled to warrant placing the “wheels” in commission. It also said that the two machines (Harley-Davidson’s) were being stored at the “old calaboose.”

Unfortunately it wasn’t long before the first accident happened. On July 16, 1909 Officer August Schulz was thrown from his mount at the intersection of Main and Poydras streets about 3 P.M after avoiding a “large man.” He was unconscious for about half an hour. A citizen, E.H.R. Green, who was described as driving a “big red machine,” took the injured officer to the City Hall emergency hospital. DPD Detectives Tanner and Price who witnessed the accident assisted the citizen.

The doctor examining the officer said that the handlebar of the bike had almost fractured a rib as the officer fell on it. His uniform was torn and he had several scrapes and bruises with a large patch of skin torn away from his right knee. In about an hour the officer was back on his feet and went back to the location of the accident. The bike was being guarded and the shaken officer straightened the handlebar of the “wheel” and rode away it was reported.

In 1923 the DMN wrote that the sales and service of the police departments Harley-Davidson’s had been taken over by John S. Berryman who was the new sales manager at the Harley-Davidson Sales Company at Pearl and Jackson streets.

 Fast forward to 1929. There is a five day Harley-Davidson sales conference at the Jefferson Hotel in downtown Dallas. About 30 dealers from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana were attending the meeting. Arthur Davidson, one of the original founders was there along with his brother, William A. (Old Bill) Davidson. Arthur told the audience that included police officials that “It is not the number of arrests that a motorcycle policeman would make that would prevent accidents, but it is that he can be seen and will prevent motorists from speeding.” He went on to say that “An officer in a car can’t always be seen (?) But an officer on a motorcycle on the Oak Cliff viaduct the other night might have prevented the accident in which one man was killed and eleven others injured.”

Fast forward one more time to January, 1935. The Dallas city council voted to buy three new Harley-Davidson police motorcycles for a total cost of $1,265. What is strange is that the City purchased two three wheeler police bikes at a cost of $1,063. These two were Indians, not H-D Servi-Cars. There is the famous picture of a DPD officer on an Indian three-wheeler with his faithful German Shepard sitting on the box with his paw on the mounted officer’s shoulder, this is one of those machines. To my knowledge, this is the only time that the DPD had purchased Indian police vehicles, either the two wheeled, or the three wheeled variety. Why it happened is anybody’s guess. It could be that the local Indian dealer made a great offer to the City to gain a foothold into what had always been Harley’s domain with the DPD since 1909.  

That is until the late 1970’s, which is another story, for another time.  

       

  

 

 

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