TENNESSEE LAWMAN
Honoring the Men and Women behind
the Badge
Motorized transportation changed
the dynamics of police work. Automobiles soon became
the most important equipment for police departments. They initially replaced
horse drawn patrol wagons for basic transportation, but quickly autos filled
many law enforcement functions. As the use of cars expanded, foot patrol began to disappear.
Chattanooga Police Department transport in 1910.
The engine driven patrol wagon was the first motorized vehicle used. The mounted
patrol remained the primary mode of non-foot transportation. The three mounted
officer from left to right were Clarence Livingston, J. J. Irvins, and W. C.
“Billy” Smith, who became one of Chattanooga first motorcycle officers when the
unit was formed in 1912.
Chattanooga Officers George Webb, W. C.
Wheat, Bob Black, Lawrence Swanson, Captain Gober, and Lee Way stood in
front of the departments Patrol Wagon and Model T Ford automobiles in
this 1922 photograph of Chattanooga's “Tin Lizzy Squad.”
The Memphis Police Department's 1921
Packard purchased to be used as a chase car following the tragic events
of the attempted robbery which left three dead. The Emergency Car was
called “the riot car” by officers on the force, but was given the name
“the black hawk” and other appellations by the lawless element in the
city who feared the justice it brought.
The Nashville Police Department’s armored emergency
chase car, a
1935 Buick Model 90 seven-passenger sedan with bulletproof glass able to
stop .45 caliber rounds in all windows, steel plates on all sides,
fender guards to protect the tires, armored window port to fire from and
heavy armor over the grill to protect the radiator.
Highway Patrolman Leon Miller soon after
he joined the Highway Patrol in 1949 with patrol unit 42.
The Highway Patrol updated patrol
unit markings in 1958. Inspector Mickey McGuire patrols a snowy
country lane beside woodland pond in the winter of 1959.
Copyright © 2005-2006, Tennessee Lawman
Jackson Motorcycle Policeman Robert A.
Mainord Jr. at the corner of Main and Shannon Streets in 1927, soon
after he went on the force. He was talking with Chief Tip Taylor seated
in the department’s second automobile, a 1923 Dodge. The front bumper of
the car was replaced with a pipe, possibly to assist stalled motorists
with a push. The motorcycle officer on the right was Harvey J.
Penn.
In 1923 a “C” cab truck replaced the
horse drawn Black Maria used to transport prisoners by the Knoxville
Police Department. It was the department's first motorized paddy wagon.
Madison County Deputy Sheriff Dan Parr in
March 1978 driving one of the first Madison County Sheriff’s Office
patrol car’s with the green stripe down the side.
Knoxville Patrolman George C. Pace in
1939 standing beside one of the V-8 Ford patrol cars called the “Brown
and Yellow Basket” because of their colors and shape.
Nashville Patrolman George “Silent Sam”
Griffin with Accident Car used by the department in the early forties to
work traffic accidents.
The Nashville Police Department's school
safety van. “Drive Slow, Children on the Go” was the winner of the back
to school safety slogan in September 1963. Standing by the safety van
from left to right were Chief Hubert O. Kemp, Patrolman Newtie Barnes,
Mrs. Mildred Strubie and Traffic Officer Fred Cobb.
Memphis police began using radar units
for traffic control on March 20, 1953. The radar unit was set on a
tripod outside the car and connected to a monitor inside the car that
displayed the speed of passing cars.
The Highway Patrol moved almost
exclusively to automobiles for patrol during the forties. Here
Patrolman Arthur M. Lashlee, left, and his partner stand with their 1949 Ford
patrol unit.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol had only a
few cars when it was formed. Knoxville District patrolmen stood with
1934 Ford patrol car #5. Patrolmen were in the standard uniform for
patrol duty on motorcycles. Standing from left to right were Patrolman
Roy Purky, an unidentified patrolman, Patrolman James Seahorn and
Sergeant Niles Pace. Sergeant Pace is wearing a different badge style.
Davidson County Sheriff’s Patrol unit, a
1950 Pontiac Silver Streak, in front of the Parthenon.
