Patrol

black patch with white stitching "Memphis Police & Fire Radio"

Shoulder patch worn by Memphis radio dispatchers in the 1950s.

two officer seated in car with door open, one holding radio mike

Memphis patrolmen used the first two-way radio system installed by the MPD in 1937. Patrol units in the thirties were basic stock models with radio equipment installed in the trunk and under the dash.

radio dispatcher seated at control panel

Memphis radio dispatcher Beverly Boushe, later a city judge, issued call over the MPD’s network, WPEC. The radio car came to Memphis at noon on July 29, 1931, when WPEC went on the air. The call letters proclaimed “We Protect Every Citizen.” Some officers joked that it meant “We Protect Ed Crump,” referring to the powerful political boss

An important dynamic affecting law enforcement was the growing importance of education and training. Physical prowess, once the most important attribute for lawmen, was now tempered by the need to grasp the new technology crucial to police work, to recognize recent laws regarding police conduct, and to understand the behavior of the people they confronted on duty.

The era of the professional law enforcement officer dawned, driven by ever more sophisticated technology and public expectation that officers would use the least amount of force possible. The opening of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1966 was one of the most important advancements in law enforcement in the state. The education level of state and local policing was also enhanced by the growing number of officers entering law enforcement with degrees and the increase in criminal justice programs at colleges and university.

The heart of police work was and is the police officer on the street. New tools and approaches cannot replace alertness and dedication to duty. That was true of the night watchman at a frontier compound, the city marshal facing down a desperado or today’s highly trained patrol officer. Patrol duty takes many forms and uniformed officers perform a variety of tasks.

Law enforcement in the middle of the twentieth century was a more mature version of policing that developed in the thirties. Law enforcement officers were predominately male and white. Lawmen were also typically rough and tumble, quickly responding to antagonism or resistance with force. In the years of prosperity that followed World War II, law enforcement began to experience changes that reshaped the nature and character of police work and police officers.

The energy and industry that the nation developed to fight and win a world war was redirected to enhance life here at home. Prosperity and technological enhancements provided law enforcement with additional tools to meet growing patrol challenges. Crime fighting and public safety grew ever more complicated.

Law enforcement was at the middle of the social upheaval that accompanied the change that took place from the 1950s through the 1970s. Law enforcement agencies were themselves changed as a part of the process. Black officers were hired by some departments for the first time and other departments increased the number of black officers. Female officers no longer served only as matrons, but began to work in traditional law enforcement roles as patrol officers and detectives.

The 1975 Jackson Police Department recruit class was the first of the department’s basic training police school. Recruits running as part of the physical training were, from left to right, Ricky Staples, Eddie Frommel, J. B. Flatter, Roger Gatlin, Anita Harrison, Donnie Stanfill, Mike Shepard, and Jerry Priddy. (Photo courtesy of the Jackson Sun)

group of male and female officers running in sweat suits

Jackson Motorcycle Officer Gerald Parish leads a parade west on Main Street passing the Liberty Street intersection. The third and fourth cars were 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe sedan patrol cars of the JPD. These were the first patrol cars to have the front doors painted white.

motorcycle officer leading parade down city street

Knoxville officers seated from left to right in this circa 1960 photograph were Detective William Golightly, Patrolmen John Williams, Patrolman and later Lieutenant James Rucker, and Detective James Guess. Standing from left to right were Patrolman Frank Cheatham, Traffic Officer and later Sergeant Theondrad Jackson, Patrolman Emmert Jackson, Patrolman and later Detective Sergeant Jeff Davis, Traffic Officer and later Captain Shields Minor, Traffic Officer and later Detective Ronald Osborne, Patrolman Zimmerman Walker, and Patrolman and later Lieutenant Jim Rowan. The shirt with dark packet flaps and epaulets were worn from the mid-1950s until 1972.

12 black officer, most in uniform, in two rows

Patrol took many forms including foot patrol. Chattanooga Patrolmen A. T. Atwood, left, and Tom Williams wore long-sleeve white shirts without jackets as designated for the summer uniform in the late thirties. They wore the “Church Door” style breast badges on their belts because the insignia was too heavy to wear on the shirt.

two officer in shirt sleeves and service caps on street patrol

black female uniformed officer on sidewalk

Memphis Officer Claudine Penn was employed on September 16, 1963 as a meter maid and was first black female officer in the department. Here she worked Beale Street, ticketing parking violators. Officer Penn was commissioned in 1968 and went on to a long and illustrious career, retiring as a 30-year captain in 1995.

Female police officers were first used in limited enforcement roles. Mayor Ben West authorized Chief Frank Muller to initiate a Meter Maid Patrol circa 1962. The uniform of meter maids was light blue with white blouses and navy shoes.

six uniformed women with three-wheel cart, the mayor and chief

Nashville’s first black police officers of the modern era joined the department in May 1948. The first seven black policemen were, left to right in the front row, patrolmen Otto Willis, Gentry Buford Bledsoe and William Latham. From left to right in the second row were patrolmen John Wesley Smith, Ernest Stamper Ford, Herman Lott Paskett and James Thomas Booker.

seven black officers in two rows on steps of building

The Nashville Police Department began a training academy in the late sixties. Captain George Balthrop, standing on left; FBI Special Agent Bruce Hodge, standing on right; Oscar Stone, on left beneath sign; and Tom Dozier, on right beneath sign, at the Hambone Range on the ground of the Tennessee State Penitentiary.

two men kneeling under sign "Hambone Range" and man on either side of sign

Tennessee Department of Safety Commissioner G. Hilton Butler moved his office to a newly opened section of I-40 in 1964 to symbolize the presence of the Highway Patrol on the interstate together with the various patrol vehicles available. Butler was seated at the table wearing pith helmet. Captain A. M. Lashlee, commander of the Nashville District, was seated with him and Captain Harold Cross stood behind them. Trooper Pete Hatcher was seated on the motorcycle on the left and Trooper Ed Beckman was on the motorcycle on the right. Helicopter pilot Lieutenant W. T. Sircy stood beside his aircraft.

group of six-plus troopers with motorcycles and helicopter by roadway

Highway Patrolmen provided security during the CIO strike at Henry I. Siegel & Co. in Dickson, Tennessee, February 1947. Left to right in the photograph on the front fenders were Assistant Chief J. J. Jackson and an unidentified sergeant, and atop the cargo were an unidentified patrolman and Patrolman Elmer Craig, later to serve as chief of the Patrol. All were armed with automatic weapons.

two patrolmen with automatic weapons on fenders of large truck and two more atop truck cargo

Highway Patrol Corporal Lloyd Wayne Tubbs worked this wreck in the Jackson District in 1954. Dealing with injury and loss of life on Tennessee highways was one of the most difficult duties of Patrol officers. Unfortunately it was one of the most frequent duties as well.

patrolman in wide-brim hat viewing wrecked automobile

In 1938 Highway Patrolman Gordon“Pop” Dickson, left, and Chester Lee Hamby patrolled the “70 Beat,” Highway 70 between Memphis and East Tennessee. They patrolled the highways until nightfall, staying in a town along the route and continuing patrol the next day. They learned chasing a speeder down a gravel road was dangerous for a motorcycle officer.

two patrolmen seated on motorcycles in wooded area

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